FEBRUARY - WEBLOGS - Roads, Transport, Ports

Content

24th FEBRUARY, 2005

INDONESIA

ROUTING AND INFRASTRUCTURE

• Current transport/logistics assets in use by WFP include:
• Road: a fleet of 152 trucks used to deliver food to the affected areas;
• Air: 7 helicopters used for movement of food and non-food items, food delivery and missions to remote locations; two fixed wing aircraft in operation for strategic airlift of cargo and food; and one fixed wing passenger aircraft
• Sea: one floating warehouse in use off the west coast of Sumatra; and two 400 MT capacity landing craft delivering supplies to hard-to-reach areas along the western coast of Aceh province;
• Warehouses: twelve permanent and temporary facilities, totaling 6,550 MT capacity; and 20,000 MT of storage space at government warehouses (BULOG);
• The total number of IOM trucks operating to date between Jakarta-Medan-Banda Aceh and Medan-Meulaboh currently stands at 199: operated for IOM cargo, with excess capacity made available to the humanitarian community.  IOM also maintains a fleet of trucks for transporting cargo locally in Banda Aceh.
• To date, IOM Banda Aceh has facilitated the transshipment of 12,229 MT of relief items from Sultan Iskandar Muda Military Airbase, with the cargo then distributed by helicopters to Tsunami affected persons camps and host communities, initially by the US NAVY (until 31 January) and now by the Japanese Self Defense Force (JSDF).
• IOM has assisted the Japanese Self Defense Force (JSDF) by providing warehousing for Japanese relief items as well as transportation and loading of the goods onto JSDF helicopters, which have flown to Lamno, Teunom and Meulaboh.

LAND

• Road Route from Medan to Meulaboh has been reopened following a TNI security assessment. TNI are increasing their security presence. (Monday 21st February -UNDSS)
• DSS has advised that UN Security Clearance forms for road access (available at the DSS office) are accepted by the TNI for UN staff movement. NGOs requiring road access should produce clearance forms and have them signed by Indonesian Government officials (at Bakornas).
• UNJLC will be focusing on collecting more detailed information on road conditions around major centers on the West coast, with a view towards reducing reliance on air movements. UNJLC is establishing a presence in Calang and Meulaboh in order to map land routes and assist with any logistics issues on the West Coast.
• In Calang the road North is open to Riba (approx 8 km north), where there is a bridge out, and to the south to Kreung Sabe (approx 7 km south), where there is also a bridge out. TNI is working on repairing the bridges and once completed, they will continue repairing and clearing the roads.
• TNI has six engineering battalions working in Aceh Province, three of which are deployed on the West coast. It is expected that the Banda Aceh to Lamno road will be open to 20 MT traffic within 2 weeks.

WAREHOUSING/COMMODITY TRACKING

• Agencies and NGOs are reminded that most commercial companies do charge for use of their warehouses in Medan (as elsewhere). In Medan, the POSKO are providing their warehouse at the hangar free of charge for the humanitarian community. Ground handling services at the Medan airport are now being charged by the service provider, GAPURA. 
• UNJLC has completed a survey of warehouse availability and usage in Banda Aceh, Medan and Meulaboh (as well as in other west coast areas).
• UNHCR have erected a Rubb hall in Calang, to be used for the storage of NFIs to be distributed to surrounding areas. NFI distribution for Krueng Sabe has almost come to an end and the NFIs for Panga are being airlifted from Banda Aceh due to lack of road access.
• UNJLC has provided a recommended Rubb Hall site sketch, for the port of Malahayati, which will be forwarded to TNI for approval. A total of five Wiik Halls (5) will be erected in Malahayati Port. Two have already been completed and three will be erected from Thursday February 24. Expected completion date: February 27.

SRI LANKA

For Information on Road, Transport and Port on Sri Lanka go to :http://www.unjlc.org/content/index.phtml/itemId/31681

16th FEBRUARY, 2005

INDONESIA

INDONESIA ROUTING AND INFRASTRUCTURE

UNJLC has recently updated the map of logistics information, particularly road conditions/reparations status on the Banda Aceh - West Coast route as at 12 February. 

WFP is now using:

• 4 sea vessels under WFP control, including two cargo vessels (3,000-ton and 4,500-ton capacity each, also being used as floating warehouses) and two 400-ton landing craft delivering supplies to hard-to-reach areas along the west coast of Sumatra;
• Over 200 trucks;
• 32 permanent and temporary warehouses;
• 60 additional light vehicles.
  IOM is now using:
• Over 300 trucks to ply the JKT-Medan-BA and Medan-Meulaboh routes. Some of these are based in BA for local distribution.  Other routes to Lhokseumawe and Bireun etc. are also serviced. 

SEA

• Assessments have indicated that sea assets are currently only used at 20-30% efficiency. A UNJLC Sea Expert will identify the sea assets available to the humanitarian aid community and establish a User Group in order to seek to optimize use of these assets, especially in the context where use of air assets (helo) may become increasingly restrictive.

LAND

• TNI has six engineering battalions working in Aceh province, three of which are deployed on the West coast. It is expected that the Banda Aceh to Lamno road will be open to 20 MT traffic within 2 weeks. TNI continues to improve the route by constructing temporary bridging (single lane Bailey and non-standard bridging) placing a stone base layer on new road alignments, and placing additional culverts. Much of the repaired route is single lane, and all temporary bridging being placed is single lane. TNI have set themselves the target of opening the entire route from Banda Aceh to Meulaboh. Realigned road segments are often through difficult terrain, with steep single lane sections.
• Road conditions in and around Medan are improving. 
• Road conditions between east Meulaboh and Medan are generally good and continuing to improve as a result of the work of TNI engineers. Passage through police and TNI checkpoints for humanitarian supplies is not hindered in any way.
• Primary mover is CRS, who are the implementing partners for WFP.
• See the website www.unjlc.org for latest road routes and assessments.

INDONESIA WAREHOUSING

• Six WFP Rubbhalls are being provided to the Department of Social Welfare. Four have arrived in Calang, Teunom, Lamno and Lhong. Two more will be delivered to Patek and Panga. WFP will assist in erection of the Rubbhalls from 9 Feb onwards.

INDONESIA COMMODITY TRACKING

• IBM conducted two sessions of training for NGO and UN organisations on the use of their SIMBA commodity tracking software on 8 Feb 05 for a broad array of UN and NGO participants. UNJLC will continue to act as a focal point to facilitate the collection of commodity information from the international community. IBM business partner, Relogica, is continuing to develop processes for the reporting and analysis of entered data.

INDONESIA MEDAN 

• UNJLC Medan has 4 main activities
  Work with the POSKO to improve and ensure the efficient flow of relief goods originating or entering Indonesia in the province of North Sumatra.
• To track the movement of aid goods originating or entering Indonesia in the province of North Sumatra.
• To facilitate the air movement of cargo on military aircraft.
• To provide logistics and sourcing information on Medan to the humanitarian community.

As the main point of entry for cargo, it is also the location of daily air coordination meetings which deal with Agencies' cargo and pax requests. UNJLC has developed a draft procedure to further facilitate the clearance of aid goods through customs in the province of North Sumatra. Refer to www.unjlc.org for detailed procedures.

However, in short the UNJLC Medan is working closely with POSKO Medan to facilitate the clearance of goods. Currently clearance takes about 1 to 2 days. Agreements reached with POSKO this week allow humanitarian actors to:

• Store goods in their own warehouses rather than in government warehouses as was previously demanded.
• Move goods with a civilian escort rather than a police or military escort.
• Sign a certificate stating the goods have been delivered in Aceh rather than a handover certificate, as was previously requested.

Amateur Radio Emergency Communications for Tsunami - complete list at www.unjlc.org  and  www.humanitarianinfo.org/sumatra

SRI LANKA

SRI LANKA WAREHOUSING

• Currently, approximately 58 GoSL owned storage facilities have been made available to UN agencies, IOs and I/NGOs. Twenty-one warehouses are being used by the Sri Lankan government, with three each in Ampara, Batticaloa, Colombo, Hambantota, Mallaittivu, Martara, and Trincomalee. Nine INGOs and UN agencies use the remaining 37 storage facilities, namely 18 warehouses, 8 Rubbhalls and 11 Wijkhalls. These include Care Int, IOM, OXFAM, Save the Children, UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, World Vision and ZOA.
• Currently, storage in locations outside Colombo and its periphery does not seem to present any significant problems as plans to expand and/or further develop warehouse space have been cancelled in lieu of more pressing logistical problems. In Colombo however, UN agencies are in the process of identifying additional storage facilities.
• To date, the IOM has need for 2-400 sq meters of space in Pottuvil (Ampara district) and the WHO needs approximately 15,000 MT in Colombo. UNICEF has increased its warehouse space in Colombo by 1,000 m2 and Save the Children is attempting to offload its warehouse (of approximately 2000 m2) due to a decrease in need for storage space. World Vision has added an additional Rubbhall each in Ampara, Batticaloa, Galle and Trinco and WFP is in the process of setting up Wijkhalls in Kilinochchi, Mullativu, Trinco and Jaffna. Sharing space is arranged between agencies and varies as such.
• An updated list of available warehouses in Sri Lanka can be found at the following address of the UNJLC website: http://www.unjlc.org/content/index.phtml/itemId/30577

The following GoSL warehouse is continuing to provide free space to I/NGOs for the duration of the tsunami disaster relief operation and can be contacted directly:
JANAPOHORA - Tel.: 077 306 5362
19 Dehawala Finharama Rd.
Colombo 15
10,000 sq ft available

SRI LANKA RAILWAYS

• Rehabilitation plans following the impact of the Tsunami are being under development for the Sri Lankan Railway network. The entirety of the network includes 1,449 km of track. The Northern Line has a track from Polgahawela to Vavuniya stretching 184 km and a track from Vanuniya to Kankasanturai measuring 160 km. The Talaimannar Line is 106 km; the Batticaloa Line (Maho to Batticaloa) is 211 km and the Trincomalee Line (Galoya Junction to Trinco) is 70 km. 
• The present status of the northern and eastern sector is in poor shape. Of the total network of passenger lines, only 391 of 4200 km are operational.
• Overall, only 50% of the 547 km of track is operational. Thirty percent of that is under speed restrictions, 10% is restricted to only 10 mph and every part of the track presents a significant safety risk. 
• Customer service in the North & Eastern sector has a high level of unreliability, poor punctuality, deteriorated quality and increasing safety risks that all add up to an increasingly less attractive alternative for VA services. 

 

9th FEBRUARY, 2005

INDONESIA ROUTING AND INFRASTRUCTURE

UNJLC has recently updated the map of logistics information. It can be found at www.unjlc.org.

INDONESIA LAND

• IOM will continue to provide 40 trucks in the Banda Aceh area for cost-free common use until the end of February, at which point future needs will be assessed. They have provided 20 trucks to WFP. IOM reports increasing demand for transport to other locations such as Nias. IOM have increased fleet size by 30% over the past two weeks.
• UNJLC has conducted road assessments on the island of Nias: results are pending.
• TNI report that they have already commissioned bridging assets for the Banda Aceh to Lamno road and these are expected to be in place shortly. Crown Agents/DFID have agreed to finance a further 200m of Bailey bridging, which is likely to be sourced from an Indonesian supplier. This will be ready to be shipped from Java about the 22nd of Feb to locations as requested by the TNI and Department of Public Works.
• TNI Banda Aceh last Thursday announced their priorities. Their top priority is cleaning the city and second priority is reconstruction of the West Coast road. The GoI welcome donations of material and equipment.

INDONESIA SEA

• Australian Defence Forces (ADF) troops were observed cleaning up the road between Lampulo River Port and the port further along the river which is capable of accommodating LSTs.
• UNJLC has inspected the Clinker/Fuel/Cement Wharf at the Lafarge Cement Plant South of Banda Aceh. Location (N05 27 01.8E095 14 23.1 (Western end of Clinker wharf) jetty structure virtually totally destroyed at the eastern end, wharf side is isolated from the access road, ramps destroyed, the wharf retaining wall breached and has left the harbour exposed to storm waves. Rough estimate of repair time 12-18 months.
• The WFP chartered landing craft Labitra Hanny completed discharge and departed Lamno for Meulaboh arrived 4 February. The M/V Kimtrans is in Meulaboh; vessel to start loading supplies to landing craft Labitra Hanny upon arrival today. Landing craft Labitra Reolina, carrying vegetable oil, en route to Banda Aceh arrived 5 February. M/V Rimba Delapan departed Jakarta for Belawan on 3 February loaded with 4,500 MT of rice, 202 MT of vegetable oil, 25.3 MT of noodles and 4.2 MT of biscuits. C/B Heimdal, accommodation vessel, is on stand-by at Sabang (island) port, north of Banda Aceh.
• Atlas Logistique have agreed to use UNJLC as a coordinating body for spare capacity on their vessels, if required. They are currently operating 3 vessels on full charter - 12 MT, 20 MT and 30 MT.
• At the General Coordination Meeting the international aid community was once again briefed on the need to forecast their logistics plans in order to validate the retention of CIMIC capacity, especially for the hovercraft with their unique operating capabilities.
• Atlas Logistique are using a local provider with 2-3 boats to begin reconstruction in Lhoong. Members of the aid community are welcome to join them.
• Approximate travel times on the Atlas Logistique local chartered boats from Banda Aceh to: Lhoong 3 hours, Lamno 6 hours, Lho Kruet 8 hours, Calang 10-12 hours, Teunom 14-16 hours. They are making daily trips down the west coast as far as Teunom using 2 boats and are planning to increase this to 4. Atlas are also making regular trips to Pulau Aceh.
• World Vision has a boat running from Banda Aceh to Lamno and Meulaboh and may have spare capacity available.
• Larger boats (30MT) are making trips to Calang, Lamno, Teunom and Meulaboh. These boats can unload directly at Calang, Lamno and Meulaboh.
• Due to changes in the seabed caused by the tsunami, the depth at Teunom (previously 6m) is now 0.5 - 1.5m. Small boats (4MT) are used to transfer cargo from the larger boats to the land. In April and May the boats must stay at sea overnight and then transfer cargo to land the next morning, before 10 am.
• Spanish military vessel SPS Galicia (LPD Class) with engineer battalion will station off North Sumatra ETA 9th February. The ship is equipped with divers, heavy engineering equipment, plant etc. At this stage, the engineering skills will be pooled with the current foreign and national engineering teams - tasking is subject to discussion with TNI.
• Germany is funding rebuilding of the west coast, south of Banda Aceh, and providing 300 houses. A German organisation called Kavitas are coordinating the project and have just arrived in Banda Aceh and are currently conducting surveys of the affected areas. Atlas Logistique are providing the sea freight element of this operation.
• Air Serv has set up a VSat in Meulaboh and one in Banda Aceh. The Meulaboh VSat has been open for more than a week and is located at the new UN site. The Banda Aceh VSat should be operational February 7th and is located at the UN Compound. Wireless connection available 24 hours, VSat tent with computers open during business hours.

INDONESIA WAREHOUSING

• Enquiries, but not commitments, are being received concerning inter-agency use of WFP Rubbhalls at various locations. So far WFP have agreed that this facility can be made available in Meulaboh and Calang, but only if excess capacity is available.
• Atlas Logistique has excess warehouse capacity in Banda Aceh: available for use by the humanitarian aid community.
• WFP Rubbhalls have been provided to the GoI in Lhong, Lamno, Calang and Teunom. They are also operating their own Rubbhalls along the West coast.
• The expected flood of reconstruction materials may impact upon warehouse space availability in the coming month.

INDONESIA COMMODITY TRACKING

• GoI and IBM have delineated data parameters for the commodity tracking component of their SIMBA software. IBM will provide 252 laptops, trainers and software to GoI for an initial period of 90 days, 20 of which will be utilized by the international aid community. UNJLC Banda Aceh will gather and provide the data for heli relief aid lifts ex. Banda Aceh.
• IBM are currently establishing SWIS wireless hubs in Teunom and Lamno, and shortly will position a WIMAX system in Calang. A second WIMAX system may be deployed in Banda Aceh to strengthen existing wireless capability already in place. SIMBA training for the humanitarian aid community to be held on Tuesday 8/02/05. Mark Yarmoshuk and Josephine McCloskey are the UNJLC Banda Aceh focal points for agencies interested in assisting with this program.
• The GoI has requested the assistance and participation of the humanitarian community by providing data on humanitarian aid movements to date.
• UNJLC has offered to provide data base operators for tracking the relief aid in the POSKO. The offer has been accepted by the POSKO.
• All agencies and NGOs are encouraged to cooperate with this initiative and provide commodity tracking and pipeline information to UNJLC as soon as possible.

INDONESIA CALANG

• The Koreans have put equipment at the disposal of the TNI in Calang, consisting of 2 excavators for infrastructure and road repairs and 6 trucks carrying medicine.
• There was a request for vehicles to be sent to Calang to distribute medical supplies as currently cargo is being moved on foot. UNHAS sent a vehicle there on Sunday, under slung from a Mi8.
• ACF reports that a bridge between Kreung Sabe and Calang that had been temporarily fixed is now unusable and urgently requires repairs.

INDONESIA MEULABOH

UNJLC/UNHAS are establishing procedures for flight bookings in close conjunction with the TNI. Following repair work to make it fit for 50 flights, the airstrip (Cut Nyak Dien) is now being used. Several French C160 flights have taken place. We are trying to confirm that the airstrip will be maintained in usable condition. A bulk fuel capability is in the process of being established.

Current issues include the coordination of flights. It has been reported that helicopters have been arriving at various landing sites resulting in pax and cargo missing flights.

• In order to improve coordination, the primary LS has been designated as LS5 (in front of the TNI HQ).
• LS3 is at the port and is used only to deliver pax/cargo to the port on specially requested flights AND as emergency alternate LS should LS5 be occupied.

In the case of such a diversion, the helicopter will go to LS5 as soon as it is cleared to pick up pax and cargo.

• LS1 is located at CUT NYAK DIEN airport and is intended to only be used for re-fuelling and parking.

Singapore has applied to bring in a barge pier to Meulaboh. If approved, it would arrive in 4-6 weeks and facilitate RO-RO traffic and general cargo handling.

INDONESIA FUEL

• Responses to the fuel survey have been received. Sectoral heads to encourage national NGOs to submit information on their future fuel needs by mid week.
• Fuel supply remains an issue in the more remote areas along the western coast.

SRI LANKA LOGISTICS ASSESSMENT IN NORTHERN SRI LANKA

SUMMARY

UNJLC is carrying out a comprehensive logistics assessment of the tsunami affected areas. The following is a preliminary assessment of transport and storage capacities In Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Jaffna as well as of other logistics issues pertaining to the post tsunami operations (i.e. Inter-agency coordination, cross-border procedures).

SRI LANKA COLOMBO PORT - FLOW OF RELIEF COMMODITIES

According to the Public Security Law and Order Ministry the bulk of incoming relief commodities is now shipped and channeled through Colombo Port while at the very onset of the tsunami disaster the bulk of the relief supplies came by air through BIA. According to the Ministry the procedures for handling incoming aid has been streamlined to preclude hurdles. Three warehouses at the Colombo Port are completely full. Hence, relief commodities are being moved from the port into bonded warehouses in Colombo areas 10, 11 and 12.

SRI LANKA GENERAL

• Fuel: The benefits of falling petroleum prices in the world market are not likely to be passed on to Sri Lanka according to the local Sunday Observer. The paper cites two main reasons for this: 1) Stable value of USD against RS and 2) the existing stocks at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) were imported two months ago barring price reductions while stocks last.
• According to CPC sources the tsunami caused destruction to filling stations, infrastructure and petroleum depots of the CPC in the southern coastal area. This had interrupted smooth distribution of petroleum products in the south. In order to overcome the bottlenecks, CPC had resorted to carry out distributions at temporarily erected installations. Investigations had revealed that seven CPC filling stations along with the thousands of gallons of fuel in stock and dispensing pumps had been washed off to the sea.
• IDPs: The number of displaced persons has dropped slightly, while the number of schools housing IDPs has dropped considerably. The total number of displaced persons on 1 February was 553,287. The relocation of displaced families continues to be confusing at the district level. Displaced families lack sufficient information about options available and in some districts, families have been moved without appropriate facilities being put in place. In Batticaloa, for example, families have reportedly been asked to sign forms indicating their willingness to move without proper consultation.
• Coastline Trains Back on Track Soon: Trains will be back on track between Colombo and Matara in early March but will be subject to delays until a new signaling system is installed according to the local Sunday Observer. Until a new system was in place a temporary but safe system would be operated. The paper states that heavy damaged tracks between Kalutara South and Aluthgama are being repaired. With a temporary but safe signaling system trains could be operated between Colombo and Aluthgama from 7 February. From the southern end trains were operating between Matara and Koggala and from 14 February the Matara-Galle service would be re-opened. The track between Galle and Aluthgama was the worst affected and this stretch would take another three to four weeks to be restored.

SRI LANKA TENTS/SHELTERS

• UNHCR, IOM and ICRC are the three lead agencies in the distribution and installation of temporary long-term shelters. IOM has committed itself to provide 5800 temporary long-term shelters to the GoSL to be installed in the eastern provinces of Sri Lanka.
• UNHCR is cooperating closely with the GoSL to carry out a need assessment for shelter installation. The final figures of the assessment are yet to be released and published.
• ICRC has committed itself to build 872 temporary long-term shelters made up of solid floor, wooden sides and metal or plastic roofing designed to accommodate a family of 6 to 8 people for two or three years.

SRI LANKA OTHER LOGISTICS ISSUES

• IOM has Trucks available for lending to agencies and NGOs. UNJLC is coordinating requests for these and an updated form for this will be published shortly.
• OCHA field coordination offices will be established in Ampara, Batticaloa, Killinochchi and Galle this week. UNJLC plans to establish offices in Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Killinochchi.
• In both Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts, UNICEF reports that coordination remains a challenge. A UNV has started work at the Kachcheri Disaster Management Unit in Batticaloa to support information gathering and dissemination.
• Providing water and sanitation for relocated families is becoming a major challenge in all districts. Many families are moving in an unplanned and uncoordinated manner. Planning water and sanitation under such circumstances requires lengthy negotiations especially when dealing with private landlords and can be a time consuming and difficult process.

4th FEBRUARY, 2005

INDONESIA - FUEL

• Based on ongoing cooperation with Pertamina, UNJLC is surveying the fuel needs of agencies and NGOs in order to assess further demands. UNJLC reiterated at the General Coordination meeting on Thursday 2 February 2005 that agencies and NGOs must notify UNJLC of fuel requirements in tsunami affected areas, including quantity and location, and that if they do not comply then fuel may not be available to them at a later stage.
• Air Serv report that fuel prices have risen from 37 cents/litre to 41 cents/litre in the last week.
• A fuel farm will be moved to Meulaboh. This will be carried out by a French C160. The farm will be stored at Meulaboh until a constructor has been found. Wheeled fuel bowsers will also be provided.

INDONESIA - ROAD TRANSPORT

• IOM will continue to provide 40 trucks in the Banda Aceh area for cost free common use until the end of February, at which point future needs will be assessed. They have provided 20 trucks to WFP. IOM are reducing their direct logistics and distribution activities.
• The road between Meulaboh and Lamno is reportedly passable for light vehicles with increased loads, but not trucks. This improvement is due to a decrease in rain, and increased consolidation of new road surfaces.
• Road access along the West coast in sections between broken bridge points has improved faster than expected.
• TNI report that bridging assets are in place to finalise the Banda Aceh - Lamno road. TNI have accepted the DFID Bailey bridge donation and will use this additional 200m at identified points along the whole coastal road.
• Road conditions from Medan to Meulaboh are stable. A UNJLC assessment is forthcoming.
• IOM reports demand for transport to all locations is increasing with Nias in particular becoming popular. Route to Nias is by road to Sibolga and then by boat. In order to alleviate demand IOM and TNT have increased their fleet size. IOM has increased from 140 10 days ago to 193.

INDONESIA - SEA

• CARE plans to use the port at Sabang as a base, including the now empty warehouses. They are currently operating 2 x 50MT boats and may have excess capacity, which they are offering on an ad hoc basis. Contact Steve 0651740 5918.
• As foreign military sea assets have not yet been used on the West coast, UNJLC is seeking RFAs in order to assess TNI's reaction to use of such assets as a regular delivery mechanism for aid goods. UNJLC have sought clarification on this matter directly with the TNI in the CIMIC meeting and are now awaiting TNI's response. TNI have approved use of these assets for delivery of road repair plant.
• Singapore has applied to bring in a barge pier to Meulaboh, currently waiting approval from TNI. If approved it would arrive in 4-6 weeks and facilitate RO-RO traffic and general cargo handling. Future assessments may be required in order to determine if there are suitable areas for container stacking and a rack stacker/forklift.
• UNJLC have advised the humanitarian aid community to remain transparent on prices they pay for seagoing assets.
• WFP has agreed that Malahayati (Aceh Besar) Port will be the main port for the region and will most likely be used extensively as an entrepot. Initial volumes: 350 MT of pallets, cartons and vegetable oil arriving on the LTC Labitra Reulina, to be discharged from the 05/02/05 onwards, destined for Banda Aceh. Rimba Delapan will start discharging 4800MT on the 10/02/05, destined for Aceh Besar.
• Update of sea conditions on the West Coast: According to local fishermen at Lampulo River Port in Banda Aceh, there are no problems accessing strategic sites along the West coast using reasonable sized local fishing boats. When the NW winds arrive in early March access to certain areas will be restricted at particular times, but local boats will continue to be operational most days. Larger boats (30MT) are making trips from Lampulo Port to Lhong, Lho Kruet, Calang, Lamno, Teunom and Meulaboh, and boats up to 80MT in size are able to service these routes. These boats can unload directly at Calang, Lamno and Meulaboh, though there have been some problems with sandbars.
• Due to changes in the seabed caused by the tsunami, the depth at Teunom (previously 6m) is now 0.5 - 1.5m. Small boats (4MT) are used to transfer cargo from the larger boats to the land. A similar process occurs in Lhong and Lho Kruet, though in these places boats smaller than 4 MT must be used. In April and May the small boats must stay at sea overnight and then transfer cargo to land the next morning, before approximately 10 am when the wind picks up.
• The approximate travel time from Lampulo Port Banda Aceh to each site is as follows:
  • Lhong 3 hours
  • Lamno 6 hours
  • Lho Kruet 8 hours
  • Calang 10-12 hours
  • Teunom 14-16 hours
  • Meulaboh 16-18 hours

SRI LANKA - UNJLC LOGISTICS ASSESSMENT

Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara, Galle - 16-22 January 2005

SRI LANKA - TRANSPORT

• There are very few transport companies in the east of Sri Lanka. Those which can offer 1 to 5 trucks are usually engaged in other business for which the use of these trucks is necessary. The companies will offer them for rent for a proper price. However, the transport in which they are engaged (tea, rice, flour, cement industries) might suffer as a consequence.
• A complete list of truck owners (including owners of one truck) in Batticaloa/Ampara is being compiled by WFP.
• The district of Galle in the south has a significant number of transport companies with bigger fleets than available in the east.
• Each division in a district has a Multi Purpose Corporate Society (MPCS) which normally own a lorry and tractor(s) for their various activities; these vehicles may be used for relief activities on availability basis.
• Each district has a health department with 1-2 trucks for their use only.

1st FEBRUARY, 2005

INDONESIA - FUEL

• UNJLC has carried out an assessment of the Pertamina (state owned oil & gas company) tank farm at Malahayati. 
  •  Pipelines from tank farm valve head to wharf head were damaged in a number of places, primarily at the flanges. Parts of pipeline already dismantled and repaired. Pressure test planned for 27/01/05 on 2 pipes in anticipation of off-shore tanker arriving next week with product. Three petroleum storage tanks (including 1 premium tank) were washed a kilometer away from the original location. Pertamina says these tanks are irreparably damaged and will convert a kerosene tank into a premium tank. The petroleum wharf also substantially damaged.
• UNJLC reports that the fuel tank farms are on the way from Medan to Meulaboh, 28th January, ETA 29th or 30th.

 

INDONESIA - MAJOR RELIEF AID ROUTES

LAND

• WFP, UNJLC and TNI conducted a road assessment along the Banda Aceh -Lamno route on the 26th January.  Access by land along this route is subject to repairs to bridges /culverts totaling 130m (4 stretches of Bailey bridges), Gabion baskets (500m3) and Armco-type culverts (12m x 2.5m).  Reparation to this route would alleviate demand for air and sea ops to the north-west coast: a significant improvement in efficiency and also would open commercial transport links paving the way to recovery.
• IOM plans to have two convoys per day ex. JKT from Feb1.  Any humanitarian actors are welcome to join subject to capacity. 

 

Medan/Lhokseumawe to Banda Aceh

Recent rains have not caused flooding as was the case on 21st January.  Flow remains good.

• To date, IOM have delivered 4500 MT of cargo from Medan to Banda Aceh

MEDAN-Teunom

• Unconfirmed reports of the Medan-Teunom road being passable.  Clarification is being sought by UNJLC Medan.

Banda Aceh to Meulaboh

Remains impassable although TNI has begun repairs on various sections.

• TNI plans for the deployment of several thousand people plus equipment in late Jan/early Feb along the Banda Aceh-Meulaboh route.

SEA

• US bringing in Mercy, a 750 bed hospital ship. May not be used for medical services, they will assess actual requirements and identify uses for the ship.
• TNI have offered the use of a 2000MT tank -carrying ship for use by humanitarian agencies to deliver humanitarian relief supplies.

Lhokseumawe Port: Operational

AIR

Medan Airport: Fully operational 

• Singapore air force is planning to operate Medan-Meulaboh route with their Chinooks (3).  The possibility exists for the Chinooks to service

Medan - Banda Aceh in emergencies and upon special request (as per UNHAS civilian operations outlined above). 

Lhokseumawe Airport: Operating normally.

Banda Aceh Airport: Fully operational - 358 helicopter sorties on the 25th January 28, 2005- a record.  Subsequent heli tasking in the last few days has been somewhat reduced.

• The US military have agreed to continue assisting with uplift capacity of 50MT per day for the coming week.

JANUARY WEBLOG ARCHIVES