PMI Sends 33,947 Relief Items to Flores Earthquake Victims via Labuan Bajo

Labuan Bajo — The Indonesian Red Cross, known as PMI, sent 33,947 relief items by sea from Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok Port to Labuan Bajo for people affected by the Flores earthquake in East Nusa Tenggara, according to reports from PMI’s Jakarta chapter and public broadcaster RRI.

PMI said the shipment departed on Saturday, Aug. 22, and was intended for residents still in evacuation centres and other emergency settings. The aid is to be distributed in stages to seven districts on Flores: West Manggarai, East Manggarai, Manggarai, Nagekeo, Ende, Sikka and Ngada.

The shipment includes clothing, blankets, hygiene and dignity kits, baby kits, tents, mattresses, tarpaulins, portable toilets, water tanks, mosquito nets, wheelbarrows, shovels, radios, flashlights, kitchen kits, and religious items such as Qur’ans and Juz Amma booklets, according to PMI’s Jakarta chapter.

PMI said sea transport was chosen because of the volume of the cargo. The organization described the delivery as part of wider relief support for communities hit by the earthquake, which local reports identified as a magnitude 7.7 event in East Nusa Tenggara.

Other reporting on the emergency response said the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, or BNPB, had already moved more than 777 tons of relief supplies by air to NTT by Aug. 21. That figure comes from separate coverage of BNPB’s response, showing the humanitarian effort involved both sea and air routes.

The wider toll of the earthquake has been reported in separate coverage of the disaster response, but the independently verified details in this shipment announcement are the size of the PMI consignment, its departure point, its receiving port and the seven Flores districts named for distribution.

What the shipment contains

• 10,000 sarongs, 10,000 clothing items and 1,000 blankets
• 1,000 hygiene kits, 1,000 dignity kits and 500 baby kits
• 25 large tents, 1,000 mattresses and 2,000 tarpaulins
• 20 portable toilets, two 1,000-litre water tanks and 1,000 mosquito nets
• 500 wheelbarrows, 500 shovels, 500 radios, 500 flashlights and 400 kitchen kits
• 2,000 Qur’ans and 2,000 Juz Amma copies

PMI’s stated distribution plan places Labuan Bajo at the centre of the logistics chain for Flores, with onward movement to districts spread across the island. The relief items are meant to cover shelter, sanitation, household and basic comfort needs during the emergency phase.

Sources

• PMI Jakarta chapter
• RRI