Media Room: Media Releases

OPERATION PADANG ASSIST UPDATE – WEEK 2

Two weeks after the Padang earthquake, life is gradually returning to normal.  As a result, the focus for the Australian Defence Force has transitioned from providing emergency response to medium term relief operations.

Yesterday HMAS Kanimbla arrived in Pariaman, north of Padang, and commenced unloading the 100 military engineers and equipment that will assist in the reconstruction phase over the next month.

Joint Task Force Commander, Colonel Mark Brewer, says the Australians will work in close cooperation with Indonesia to repair several sites of essential infrastructure and develop a temporary medical facility.

“We will be working with the TNI, local Police and Indonesian authorities to complete the building projects identified by the Indonesian Government and AusAID,” Colonel Brewer said.

Last week, fresh drinking water was a priority, as the local water treatment plant that supplied 60% of the city’s water had been damaged.  To augment the local water supply, Australian Army Engineers produced over 800,000 litres of water and continue to produce up to 100,000 litres a day.  Now water is beginning to return to Padang households.

In Seigerringing, the Sydney based members of the 1^st Health Support Battalion are now fully operational as a Primary Health Care Team.  They have treated over 500 patients and have begun an outreach program to access medical issues in regional villages.

This week also saw mission success for the Army and Air Force Engineers who completed 63 rapid structural damage assessments on government buildings.

Civil engineer, Captain Angus Johnson, says the work of his team will enable the United Nations Development Program to now demolish or make the buildings safe.

“We have assisted the United Nations Development Program to understand whether specific government buildings are unsafe and need to be demolished or if they are structurally sound and can be reconstructed,” Captain Johnson said. 

The members of the Engineer Structural Assessment Teams will commence returning to Australia over the next few days.

The emergency response efforts of the medical and engineer teams has allowed the people of Padang and surrounding areas to begin the reconstruction phase of their recovery.

Media contact:

Captain Margaret Nichols:                    +61417 705 938

Defence Media Liaison:                        02 6127 1999 or 0408 498 664