Summary
Content
Overall
Procedures for Air Transport Requests
- On www.unjlc.org the procedures for requesting air transport are published under 'Indian Ocean' under 'Air Operations'. Also the needed forms to request transport are available. Three theatres are identified for airlift:
- Strategic Long Range Airlift, agencies are encouraged to charter assets themselves.
- Only in case of specific needs military airlift will be requested.Regional Airlift, including airlifts from the SUBANG Humanitarian Air Hub (WMSA). A distinction is made between UNHAS assets and military assets in the region.Helicopter and Light Aircraft airlift, both for the
- helicopters and light aircraft in BANDA ACEH and military helicopter flights out of MEDAN.
- Also, requests for slot allocations for SUBANG (WMSA), MEDAN (WIMM) and BANDA ACEH (WITT) can be downloaded on www.unjlc.org (Indian Ocean, Air Operations).
- It is considered at the moment whether commodities can be forwarded by sea from the SUBANG Humanitarian Air Hub (WMSA) to ports in Indonesia. This could reduce congestion at BANDA ACEH and MEDAN airports.
Offers/Assets
- The U.S. military has offered WFP the use of a high speed catamaran to transport 500 MT of canned fish to Indonesia (250 MT for BANDA ACEH; 250 MT for MEDAN).
- DHL Danzas Air & Ocean has offered transport on 500 x 40 ft. containers to relief agencies operating in Sri Lanka. The cargo needs to be delivered to the DHL warehouse in LOS ANGELES, HOUSTON or NEW YORK where DHL will load the containers and ship them to COLOMBO free of charge. The empty containers need to be returned to DHL Danzas Air and Ocean in Singapore within 90 days.
INDONESIA
Overall
- The Government of Indonesia and TNI (Indonesian military) are developing a procedure for registering foreign aid workers in ACEH. The move is welcomed by the UN as a necessary step in ensuring security.
- TNI has announced on 11/01/05 that foreign aid workers in Aceh need special permission to operate outside of Banda Aceh or Meulaboh. Also, outside these cities they have to be accompanied by the Indonesian military. Agencies must report to TNI the day before their operation. Unclear is to what extent these regulations will be enforced.
- The Humanitarian Information Centre (HIC) is being set up in BANDA ACEH. Information will be available on www.humanitarianinfo.org.
Air Operations
- Overview of UNHAS helicopters en-route to BANDA ACEH:
- Latvian/TNT: 1 x MI8, marked, Medan, ETA 12/01/05
- Latvian/TNT: 1 x MI8, unmarked, Medan, ETA 12/01/05
- DFID: 3 x Super Puma, unmarked, Subang, ETA 17/01/05
- DFID: 2 x MI17, unmarked, Subang, ETA 17/01/05
- The transport of personnel between JAKARTA, MEDAN and BANDA ACEH remains problematic.
The airstrip of SABANG (island off the coast of BANDA ACEH) is expected to be reopened by the Government of Indonesia and TNI. The airstrip could be used for C130s and helicopters.
An OXFAM MI17 has been deployed to BANDA ACEH and a second one is expected in the weekend.
Road Transport/Shipping
- The convoy led by IOM travelling from JAKARTA to MEDAN has passed through JAMBI and is expected to arrive in MEDAN on 12/01/05.
- The port at LHOKSEUMAWE is operating and has berths available. Also open storage and trucks for deliveries along the east coast (including BANDA ACEH) are available.
- The road from LHOKSEUMAWE to BANDA ACEH is 280 km and is in a good condition.
- At BELAWAN (Medan), the port is open and covered storage and trucks are still available.
Distribution/Needs
- Medical teams are still invited to assist due to serious concerns about the overall public health.
- A Belgian camp that can be used for either staff or local population will be shipped to SUBANG (Malaysia) and will be available for usage in ACEH.
- WFP has up till 11/01/05 distributed 86 MT of food along the WEST COAST.
SRI LANKA
Overall
- The following MCDA (Military Civil Defence Assets) are deployed in Sri Lanka:
- Austria: 77 troops, water purification unit in GALLE,
- Bangladesh: 80 troops, water purification capacity, engineer assets, medical assets,
Belgium: 67 troops between GALLE and MATARA, heavy machinery, medical team, engineers, - Canada: 140 troops, AMPARA district, 4 medical teams, engineers, water purification (for own purposes),
- UK: 2 ships offshore Batticaloa district, activities: repairing fishing vessels, clearing contaminated water, helicopter transport to local authorities (2 Lynx helicopters)
- US: 558 military personnel (203 in KATUNAYAKE, 158 GALLE, 197 COLOMBO), marines' logistics regiment is involved in debris removal etc., about 7 flights per day are carried out for both cargo and personnel delivery.
- The assets mentioned above have been deployed bilaterally and not through MCDU. Only two requests from the civilian side to the military were channelled through the OCHA MCDU CMCoord cell.
As reported yesterday, the use of 6 HA 60 Helicopters Blackhawk (capacity 1-1,5 MT) is offered as MCDA.
Shipping
- COLOMBO Port is functioning. However, congestion has been reported due to naval relief vessels berthing inside the port. Also. There is a slight delay for container vessels.
- GALLE Port has one berth functioning. The other berths will expectedly be operational within ten days.
- Despite damage to the pier, vessel operations are being conducted at TRINCOMALEE.
ABOUT UNJLC
UNJLC is an inter-agency facility reporting during an emergency to the Humanitarian Coordinator and overall to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee. Its mandate is to coordinate and optimize the logistics capabilities of humanitarian organizations in large-scale emergencies. UNJLC operates under the custodianship of WFP who is responsible for the administrative and financial management of the Centre. UNJLC is funded from voluntary contributions channeled through WFP. More information on UNJLC in general and on the South Asia operation can be viewed on the UNJLC website (www.unjlc.org).