"UNDAC is of the opinion that Indonesia is more than able to overcome the problems in West Sumatra after the devastating earthquake," UNDAC team leader Winston Chang said here on Thursday.

He said Indonesia was so good in its emergency response actions that a lot of technology which UNDAC had prepared for the evacuation of quake victims had remained unused.

"What Indonesian people have done in West Sumatra earthquake management is outstanding because all systems in the field are running smoothly," Winston Chang said.

He said cooperation between international non-governmental institutions and the Indonesian government in earthquake management processes was also running very well.

"In UNDAC`s view, Indonesia is skilled enough in handling the disaster but it continues cooperating well with international parties as part of the world`s community`s joint commitment," Chang said.

More than 700 people have been killed, at least 340 others remain , and thousands of others have become homeless after the strong quake rattled West Sumatra.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Source: ANTARA News