On Thursday, German aid workers in Indonesia handed over water treatment and power generation systems for the earthquake victims to local users. I.S.A.R. Germany and its cooperation partner BRH Bundesverband Rettungshunde also donated three large tents, two generators, 140 canisters, benches, tables and food to the residents of a tent camp for tsunami victims and the neighbouring community of Sigi on the island of Sulawesi.
Supply engineer Benno Riehl, the water expert in the 14-strong team, spent a day training the mayor and several local residents and refugees in the operation of the drinking water treatment plant. „We also left behind a supply of chlorine and operating materials, measuring equipment for quality testing and a kind of chemical kit that can be used to quickly produce large quantities of drinkable water from contaminated raw water in an emergency,“ reports Riehl.
The German aid team also analysed the water quality of two local springs in a laboratory and recommended which one should be used to treat the raw water. „The people were also particularly pleased about the 140 ten-litre canisters, which enable them to have a decentralised supply. The 800 camp residents, as well as many neighbouring residents, were previously unable to afford to buy drinking water and had to rely on boiled dirty water,“ explains Benno Riehl. An estimated 2000 people are now benefiting from the relief supplies from Germany.
The two cooperating aid organisations I.S.A.R. and BRH left for Indonesia a week ago and started the drinking water treatment near the badly damaged coastal town of Palu on Monday. Now that the relief supplies have been handed over and the continued operation of the water treatment plant has been secured, this operation is to be gradually phased out.
On the island of Sulawesi, a strong earthquake on 28 September triggered a six-metre-high tidal wave that hit the coastal city of Palu, among other places. More than 2000 fatalities have since been recovered. However, 5000 people are still missing in Palu and may have lost their lives.