The earthquake disaster of magnitude 7.4 and the tsunami that struck the Palu and Donggala regions in Central Sulawesi on Friday (28/9) at 05:02 PM(West Indonesian Time), has left a devastating condition for the victims as well as the entire Indonesian nation; not least for Vivo Indonesia. To ease the burden of the people affected by the earthquake and tsunami, Vivo Indonesia donated IDR 4 billion which was channeled through the Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT) Organization.
Edy Kusuma, General Manager for Brand and Activation of PT Vivo Mobile Indonesia, stated, “Thisdonation from vivo of course cannot replace the entire damages and losses that occur, but vivo feelscritical to support disaster management programs, especially to help the survivors. This becomes our sorrow as one nation, and we hope that efforts by various parties can help to ease the burden of thousands of our families in Palu, Donggala, and other affected areas.”
According to Edy, this aid and assistance from vivo will be converted into logistics needed by disaster victims. He added, Vivo Mobile Indonesia fully appreciates the handling of the Palu and Donggala disasters that are carried out responsively, quickly, and integrated from various parties; both from government agencies, the private sector, and other countries. Moreover, in this disaster, several colleagues, the Sales team, and business partners from Vivo Mobile Indonesia in Central Sulawesi also became suffered victims; as well as several families from employees who work at Vivo Mobile Indonesia.
Symbolic donations were handed over directly by Fachryansyah Farandy, General Manager for Digital and Partnership of PT Vivo Mobile Indonesia to Rini Maryani, Vice President of Aksi Cepat Tanggap(ACT) at ACT Head Office. “Vivo collaborates with ACT, which has been very responsive and professional on distributing humanitarian assistance to communities affected by disasters, including for the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Central Sulawesi even from the beginning. We also hope that this assistance can reach the victims at the soonest.”
Receiving directly the mandate of humanitarian donation from Vivo for Palu – Donggala, Rini fully appreciated the trust that has been given to the organization. “Concern from this Nation, including from vivo will be the driving force to immediately restore Palu and Donggala. This embodied in hashtag initiated by ACT entitled #IndonesiaBersamaPaluDonggala,” she said.
After the massive earthquake and tsunami in hit Palu and Donggala regions, the ACT Disaster Emergency Response (DERM) Team immediately planned the departure of personnel to Donggala and Palu, in coordination with the South Sulawesi ACT Team and the Indonesian Volunteer Society (Masyarakat Relawan Indonesia – MRI) of South Sulawesi. On Saturday morning (29/9), ACT’s Disaster Emergency Response (DERM) Team departed for Donggala and Palu by air to Gorontalo, then connected by land trip.
On Sunday (30/9), 24 ACT volunteers from South Sulawesi, MRI South Sulawesi, and the ACT team departed from Makassar to the SIS Al Jufri Mutiara Airport in Palu. Evacuation of victims trapped in the ruins of buildings and affected by the tsunami on the coast of Palu continues to be carried out, while looking for points to open Aid Post for survivors. Additional ACT team that arrived was transferred to Mamuju airport because of the limited traffic regulation in Palu airport. At the same time, as many as 13 volunteers departed for Palu and Donggala from Semayang Port, Balikpapan.
On the second day after the disaster, ACT has deployed a divided team at several points: the Emergency Response-ACT team that headed to Donggala from Gorontalo, the MRI-ACT team from Mamuju in Donggala to the west of the bay, the MRI-ACT team from South Sulawesi in Palu City and the East Kalimantan MRI team that headed to Palu from Balikpapan.
The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) released the latest number of victims who died after the earthquake and tsunami in Palu City, Donggala and Sigi Regencies, Central Sulawesi Province, until Tuesday (2/10) evening, reaching as many as 1,374 people. The ACT Team has prepared ACT Humanitarian Post located H Hayun Street, Kelurahan Besusu Barat, Kecamatan Palu Timur, city of Palu. This post is placed not far from the Vivo Outlet which has been temporarily closed to avoid aftershocks.
“Vivo Indonesia is very concerned about the disasters that occurred in Palu and Donggala, hopefully the victims’ search and rescue efforts can run smoothly and thoroughly. Together with all Indonesian people, we keep our thought and prayer for the families of survivors, to be given the strength to face this devastating time”, Fachry concluded.
