By Rafiq Vayani
JAKARTA/KARACHI: Following the relief assistance delivered to Pakistan on 26 September 2022 by the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Social Affairs and Head of the Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the Government of the Republic of Indonesia reaffirms its commitment to assist Pakistan in managing the impacts of flood-disaster by sending Medical Team to Pakistan and other logistics.
On Friday, 7 October 2022, Garuda Indonesia Airways with flight No. GA 7540 landed at Jinnah International Airport at 9.30 AM bringing the Indonesian Medical Team and another logistics weighing 32 tons. The Medical Team consists of 29 medical personnel ranging from doctors, nurses, nutritionists, and midwives, including dermatologists, pediatricians, nutritionists, and pharmacists. The logistics also comprise medicine packages.
The medical team is welcomed by the Indonesian Consul General in Karachi, Dr. June Kuncoro Hadiningrat, along with the Minister of Social Welfare Department of Sindh Province, Mr. Muhammad Sajid Jokhio, representatives from Pakistan NDMA, and Sindh Ministry of Health.
Indonesian Consulate General in Karachi, the Indonesian Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), and Indonesian Embassy in Islamabad, have been in close coordination with MDNA and the Sindh Ministry of Health for the deployment of the Indonesian medical team in Mirpur Khas district and Bin Qasim tent city in Malir district, Karachi, for total 1 (one) month service. The Team will assist its Pakistani counterparts in providing medical services to thousands of the victims of flood disasters living in tents in those areas.
The Indonesian Medical Team is scheduled to serve in the Mirpur Khas district to provide health services in fixed and mobile health units. Afterward, the team will move to a tent city in Bin Qasim, Malir district in Karachi to provide health services in the Indonesian medical tents erected by the Indonesian National Disaster Management (BNPP)’s advanced team earlier.
The Indonesian Delegation that accompanied the delivery of the humanitarian assistance this time, led by the Deputy of Logistics and Equipment from the Indonesian Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), Mr. Zaherman Muabezi, with its medical team members coming from the Indonesian Ministry of Health, Armed Forces, Police, Andalas University, and Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Center (MDMC).
This humanitarian work is a follow-up to the directive from the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, for Indonesia to help Pakistani people facing the calamity of flood disaster. The clear directive was conveyed during the dispatch ceremony of sorties 1 and 2 of Indonesian humanitarian aid for Pakistan on last 26 September 2022.
