RI troops to assist in Haiti recovery

Jakarta Post, 30 Maret 2011

The Indonesian government is sending a contingent of military personnel to provide humanitarian assistance under the United Nations mission to Haiti, to assist in the country efforts to recover from the impacts of a severe earthquake last year.

"[The dispatch] will take place shortly and they may depart within the next few days," Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He added that a representative from the UN had come to Indonesia to ensure Indonesia's participation in its recovery operation in Haiti, and said that personnel had already been prepared and were waiting for the order to depart.

Purnomo said the personnel comprised construction and medical units whose main duties would be connected to the post-disaster recovery in Haiti, and not necessarily related to impacts of conflicts in the country.

Backing up the statement from the defense minister, the commander of the Indonesian Defense Force (TNI), Admiral Agus Suhartono, said he was waiting for a confirmation on the needs for the mission before giving orders for personnel to be dispatched.

Speaking to journalists after an international defense dialogue event held recently in Jakarta, Admiral Suhartono said TNI had been making preparations to send TNI construction and medical units to Haiti since January last year.

An magnitude-7 earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, 2010 and left 316,000 people dead, 300,000 injured and more than 1 million homeless. (the jakarta post)