Indonesia, where the Dec. 26 tsunami took its greatest toll with a confirmed death toll of over 90,000 so far, is mobilizing the nation to deal with the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami.
Security forces on Wednesday massed in front of the Jakarta convention center which will on Thursday host an international emergency summit meeting to discuss relief and reconstruction efforts in the wake of the Dec. 26 earthquake-tsunami disaster, which has claimed the lives of over 145,000 in Asia and Africa so far.
The leaders or their representatives of 26 countries and international organizations are due to meet here for the Special ASEAN Leaders' Meeting on Aftermath of Earthquake and Tsunami, being held under the auspices of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
The Jakarta convention center is attached to the Hilton hotel which is part of an Indonesian chain of hotels which Australia warned late last year could be targeted by terror attacks over the Christmas period.
Security is also extremely tight in Jakarta with over 14,000 officers fanned across the capital city to watch out for any trouble-makers although the sense of business-as-usual can be felthere in Jakarta.
Heavily-armed soldiers, security personnel and policemen are guarding the entrance to an expressway from the Jakarta international airport to downtown.
Security personnel are checking cars entering government buildings, public facilities and five-star hotels with metal detectors, trying their best not to leave any stone unturned.
As Indonesia's Health Ministry has raised the country's confirmed death toll to more than 94,000, the House of Representatives leaders decided on Tuesday to form a team of 20 legislators with the task of supervising the distribution of humanitarian aid to tsunami-hit areas in Aceh and North Sumatra in order to prevent misuse of funds.
The lawmakers also suggested that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono assign the Ministry of Finance to be the sole institution channeling donations contributed from foreign countries.
Quakes and tidal waves hit large areas of northern Sumatra on Dec. 26, killing more than 90,000 people, thus, making Indonesia the worst-hit country in the natural disaster.
Jakarta hospitals are offering free medical treatment for Acehnese children wounded in the catastrophic tsunami triggered byan 8.7-magnitude undersea earthquake off Indonesia's Sumatra island.
As international aid continues to pour in, the Indonesian people from all walks of life are also mobilizing to show solidarity with their fellows in the disaster-stricken areas.
Cellular operators have been opening special numbers for contributions for Aceh since last Thursday after receiving requests from customers to do so.
As of Tuesday morning, some 238,523 messages had come through to the nation's biggest cellular operator Telkomsel, which has collected 477 million Indonesian rupiah (51,200 US dollars).
Publicly listed PT Indosat, through its products IM3, Matrix, and Mentari, has also seen messages pouring in and funds of some 460 million Indonesian rupiah (50,000 US dollars).
The company plans to keep the service open for as long as it is needed, at least until the end of the month.
The donation mechanism is easy. Customers only need to type a message and send to the special numbers. The money will be deducted from their prepaid card or charged in next month's bill. Operators in other countries, including Germany, Singapore and France, have also set up similar services.
The Indonesian government expects to secure pledges from international donors at Thursday's summit for the rehabilitation of Aceh and North Sumatra. It has said that it was likely to spend at least 10 trillion rupiah (1.07 billion US dollars) for reconstruction in the disaster-devastated provinces over the next five years.
(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2005)
