TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Social Affairs Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said that aid supplies sent to quake and tsunami victims in Central Sulawesi had not yet reached the locations. Damage to the access roads hindered the distribution of aid supplies.

"We are trying to distribute them as quickly as possible, but a lot of access roads have been damaged," he stated in a press release received on Saturday.

The minister, who has been in Palu, which is the capital of Central Sulawesi, noted that he had distributed aid supplies from Gorontalo and Makassar by land. Aid supplies from the ministry's Eastern Region warehouse in Makassar include camp beds, tents, mattresses, family kits, kids' wares, food wares, clothes, and blankets.

Aid supplies from Jakarta, such as food supplies, camp beds, multi-purpose tents, kitchen sets, and mattresses, have been ready to be flown to Central Sulawesi. Vehicles, especially kitchen and rescue cars, have also been mobilized to buffer regions in large numbers.

"The aid supplies from the Social Affairs Ministry should have arrived by now," Kartasasmita remarked.

Meanwhile, a number of aircraft of the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU) had been deployed to transport logistical aid supplies to Palu, Central Sulawesi. Those aricraft were used to evacuate wounded victims of earthquake and tsunami to Makassar, Couth Sulawesi, on Saturday evening.

Head of Antara Bureau in Central Sulawesi, Rolex Malaha, said at least three TNI AU planes had arrived at Mutiara Sis Al Jufri in Palu on Saturday afternoon carrying aid supplies for the earthquake and tsunami victims. After unloading all the logistical aid supplies, the planes were then used to evacuate around 200 priority victims.

The operation was personally led by the chief of the 2nd Air Force Operations Command, Rear Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo. The Mutiara Sis Al Jufri airport has been accessible for military planes especially for distributing aid supplies but it has not yet been able to be used for commercial flights.

A 7.4-magnitude quake hit Donggala at 17.02 pm on Friday and caused a tsunami, leaving 384 people dead.

ANTARA