TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A delegation of European Union (EU) Heads of Mission visited the disaster-hit city of Palu, Central Sulawesi, on October 18-19, to express solidarity with the affected people and support the Indonesian reconstruction efforts.

During the visit, the EU ambassadors had a first-hand insight on the EU assets deployed for relief operations under the EU Civil Protection (EUCP) Mechanism. Based on the press release received by Tempo on Friday, Oct. 19, the EU Civil Protection (EUCP) Mechanism was activated following an official request for assistance from the Indonesian government.

It also said that as of today, the total collective EU aid amounts to more than € 18 million.

The ambassadors went to the Joint Operations Coordination Centre for International Assistance and met with the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Secretary General, Dody Ruswandi.

Read: World Bank Promises USD 5 billion Aid for Palu

They were briefed by representatives of the Integrated Joint Task Command Centre, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre), the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and the European Civil Protection Mechanism.

The delegation consisted of Head of the EU Delegation to Indonesia Vincent Guérend, Ambassador of Austria Helene Steinhaeusl, Ambassador of Italy Vittorio Sandalli, Ambassador of France Jean-Charles Berthonnet, Ambassador of Denmark Rasmus Abildgaard Kristensen, and Ambassador-designate of Germany Peter Schoof.

The EU team witnessed the magnitude of the devastation in the area affected by soil liquefaction, Petobo, as well as the Tinggede area in Sigi and Palu.

on September 28, Central Sulawesi, particularly in Palu City and the vicinity, hit by tsunami after the 7.4-magnitude earthquake shook the region. The death toll reached over 2,000 and more than 70,000 people were evacuated.

LA