Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Minister for Social and Family Development and
Second Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing represented the Government of
Singapore at the Aceh Tsunami Commemoration Event in Banda Aceh,
Indonesia, this Friday. The event commemorates the 10th anniversary of
the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.
As part of his programme, Chan
visited the Aceh Tsunami Museum and interacted with Singapore
Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) representatives at an exposition at
the event. He also met with senior Indonesian officials during the
commemoration.
On the sidelines of the event, Chan
said, “Singapore and Indonesia are close neighbours. We always stand
ready to help each other in times of need. For example, Indonesia
rendered us much assistance in the search and recovery efforts when
SilkAir Flight MI185 crashed near Palembang in December 1997."
"Similarly,
after the tsunami struck, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) was placed
on alert to render assistance to Indonesia. The SAF and the Indonesian
National Defence Forces (TNI) were able to carry out their missions
quickly and seamlessly because of the long-standing special relationship
between the two militaries at all levels. This relationship was built
up over many years of close cooperation, regular exchanges and bilateral
training,†he said.
Chan was accompanied by senior officials
from the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the SAF.
From 28 Dec 2004 to 25 Feb 2005, the SAF deployed about 1,200 SAF
personnel to affected areas in Indonesia.
In addition, three
Republic of Singapore Navy Landing Ships Tank transported more than 150
pallets and crates of relief supplies and equipment, while 20 Republic
of Singapore Air Force aircraft flew more than 600 sorties and 1400
hours, and transported about 500 tonnes of supplies and equipment.
Following
the immediate post-disaster relief period, the Singapore Government,
together with NGOs and fellow Singaporeans, contributed in various
reconstruction projects in Aceh, such as the construction of the
Meulaboh pier and the refurbishment of the Meulaboh General Hospital.
The Singapore Red Cross channelled almost S$57 million of donations from Singapore for the projects.(WDY)
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