At epicentre of Indonesia disaster, Guterres praises resilience of Sulawesi people

United Nations chief António Guterres on Friday (12 Oct) visited Palu, Indonesia after the earthquake and tsunami hit the country.
On arrival, Secretary-General António Guterres met at the Mutiara SIS Al-Jufrie Airport Palu Airport, with Vice-President H.E. Dr. Muhammad Jusuf Kalla; Governor of Central Sulawesi, H.E. Dr. H. Longki Djanggola; Head of the Indonesian National Disaster Management Authority, H.E. Mr. Willem Rampangilei; Representatives of the Indonesian Armed Forces.
He was briefed on regional and international coordination by ASEAN Emergency Rapid Assessment Team and UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team.
Guterres visited the Balaroa Liquefaction Site, Jalan Manggis, and spoke to affected people.
SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“I think Indonesia, and the people in Sulawesi can be very proud for the very effective and immediate response, showing the enormous capacity that the international community should be ready to support. This is a government led process. They are here to support us. The support is deeply admired, the way you have been able to response so effectively to such a tragedy event. For those that have lost their family members, their friends, I want to express my deepest condolences. I want to say that our hearts are broken by what happened, but we are in full solidarity with Sulawesi and with Indonesia."
He arrived at Jembatan Kuning, drove along Talise beach and visited a hospital near Balaroa which was partially destroyed two weeks ago when some people were still treated.
Traveling with the SG are Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and Anita Nirody, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Indonesia .
Source: UNifeed