Indonesian air traffic controller hailed as quake hero

Yahoo – AFP, September 30, 2018

A collapsed building in Palu: an air traffic controller is being hailed as a hero
after staying at his post during the quake (AFP Photo/OLA GONDRONK)

Jakarta (AFP) - An Indonesian air traffic controller is being posthumously hailed as a hero for refusing to leave his post despite devastating earthquakes so that he could guide a passenger jet safely off the ground.

Twenty-one-year-old Anthonius Gunawan Agung was on duty in the air traffic control tower at Palu's Mutiara SIS Al-Jufrie airport when a series of earthquakes struck the city in Sulawesi island on Friday.

Officials say he refused to leave his post until he got an Batik Air plane off the ground, while his colleagues who were not handling aircraft departed.

"When the quake happened, he was giving clearance to Batik Air to take off and waited for the plane to be safely airborne before finally leaving the ATC cabin tower," said AirNav Indonesia spokesman Yohanes Harry Sirait.

After Flight 6231 was safely in the air the quakes became ever-stronger, culminating in a 7.5 magnitude jolt and tsunami. At least 832 people are confirmed dead.

Eventually, Agung jumped from the top of the crumbling four-storey tower in a desperate bid to escape, breaking his leg and suffering serious internal injuries.

He was taken to a nearby hospital where he received basic treatment, but died before a helicopter could arrive to transport him to a better-equipped facility.

The company will raise Agung's rank by two levels as a sign of appreciation for his extraordinary dedication, AirNav said in a statement.

Local station Metro TV was among those who hailed Agung's "heroic act".

The Indonesian archipelago sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide and many of the world's volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

Nissan scanning vehicles for radioactive material

CNN News, From Kyung Lah, March 18, 2011

Nissan Motors' pickup trucks line up for export to the Middle East
area as a freighter approaches to the Nissan pier at the Yokohama
port, Kanagawa prefecture, 15 September 2006.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• A company official says the measures aim to "reassure the public"
• The monitoring for radioactive material started this week
• Some Nissan production remains suspended

  

Tokyo (CNN) -- Nissan has started scanning vehicles made in Japan for traces of radioactive material, a company official said Friday.

"Looking ahead, we will continue to implement all appropriate measures to reassure the public that all products from our company remain within globally accepted safety standards and until we are confident that any risk of contamination is completely removed," said Simon Sproule, corporate vice president of marketing for Nissan Motor Company.

RELATED TOPICS

• Japan
• Earthquakes

Sproule said the monitoring began this week.

Sources inside the company said there is virtually no risk of contamination from a car and no potential health risk to customers, but testing began because of public concern.

Production at several Nissan facilities remains suspended after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake damaged plants and equipment on March 11, the company said in a statement Thursday.

Terrible traffic to last into late evening

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 10/25/2010 9:41 PM

Hectictraffic conditions in Jakarta, following three hours of heavy rains, willlikely last well into Monday evening, a Jakarta Police Traffic ManagementCenter officer says.

FirstInsp. Kasno told tempointeraktif.com that the traffic would begin to easebetween 10 and 11 p.m., considering the massive queues of vehicles headingtoward Depok, Bekasi and Tangerang.

Thepolice said the worst traffic snarls were on Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman, theSenayan traffic circle, Jl. Latuharhari, Palmerah junction, Jl. Rasuna Said,Jl. Senopati, Blok O and Dharmawangsa.

Theheavy rains caused a number of rivers in Jakarta to flood, inundating severalmajor streets and felling a number of trees, bringing rush hour traffic to astandstill.

Motorists stranded on a flooded Jalan Thamrin in Central Jakarta. Inundated streets citywide caused huge delays as a rainstorm hit at the commute hour. (JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)

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Disaster response still fragile in RI: Humanitarian report

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 01/30/2009 8:41 AM  

Disaster reponse by the government and humanitarian workers is still below the United Nations’ minimum standard, a report said. 

The 2008 Indonesia Humanitarian Forum report said the poor responses happened amid a sharp decrease in the number of fatalities from disasters during 2008.

“We found that disaster response management in Indonesia does not yet fully comply with the minimum standards set by the UN, which is called the Sphere,” Hening Parland, the Indonesia Humanitarian Forum executive director, said Thursday.

The forum conducted a study — based on media analysis from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2008 — and found that the government and humanitarian institutions only applied some of the Sphere standards.

The Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response was first launched in 1997 by humanitarian NGOs, the Red Cross and the Red Crescent movement.

Sphere is based on two core beliefs: first, all possible steps should be taken to alleviate human suffering arising from a disaster; second, those affected by a disaster have a right to live with dignity and a right to assistance.

“The lowest scores [for the Indonesian government and aid workers] were on evaluation, competency and humanitarian workers’ responsibility. Many of the workers are not even covered under an insurance scheme,” Hening said.

“Many humanitarian workers are not aware of their vulnerability to the disasters while working in the field.”

Hening said the activists’ poor competency on disaster management would also hamper the sustainability of humanitarian programs.

The study showed that many of the disaster responses were still regarded simply as a “relief initiative” rather than as a comprehensive implementation of rights, as stipulated in Act 2007 on disaster management which mandated security and protection as basic human rights.

Indonesia is prone to natural disasters — ranging from earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunami — due to its location on the “Ring of Fire” volcanic belt.

Poor environmental management in most of the country’s 33 provinces, coupled with the impact of climate change, has made Indonesia more prone to floods and landslides. 

Data from the Indonesian Humanitarian Forum showed there were 236 cases of disasters last year, with floods at 130 cases, followed by tropical storms (43 cases) and landslides (35 cases). 

The Health Ministry said that a total of 7,618 people were killed during 2006 in 162 natural disasters nationwide. It also said that the number of disasters increased to 205 recorded events in 2007, killing 766 people.

The number of disasters increased last year with 408 cases. However, the number of fatalities decreased to 321 people.

“The decline in the death rate is due to the presence and the application of early warning systems, including those for floods and landslides. However, coordination among government offices and agencies to deal with the disasters remains poor,” Hening said.

The forum also criticized the effectiveness of regulations issued by the government and regional administrations regarding natural disaster mitigation.

“We have found there are 57 regulations related to disaster mitigation management. The effectiveness of these rules remains unclear,” Hening said.

The Humanitarian Forum, which consists of eight NGOs, including Muhammadiyah Disaster Management and Wahana Visi Indonesia, also plans to educate 1,000 humanitarian workers this year to help carry out missions in the field.

 

The Sphere’s eight standards:

1. Public participation
   
2. Preliminary study
   
3. Response
   
4. Determining targets
   
5. Monitoring
   
6. Evaluation
   
7. Competency
   
8. Humanitarian workers’ responsibility, supervision management and support to staff.
   

Manokwari's Airport Operating Normally

Tuesday, 06 January, 2009 | 21:23 WIB 

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Rendani Airport in Manokwari, West Papua, is still operating normally despite the 7.2 earthquake on the scale Richter that struck the region last Sunday morning. "Generally speaking, it is still in good condition and operational," said head of Public Communications Center of the Transportation Department, Bambang S. Ervan, yesterday in Jakarta. 

Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal and Air Transportation director Tri Sunoko saw firsthand that the runway and the taxi way did not crack. The walls on the control tower suffered minor damage while communication with the tower continued to operate as usual. However, due to the frequent follow-up tremors, the officers would not stay at the top of the tower. "The tremors being around 5 on the Richter scale, they were quite strong and the officials refused to go up so the communications equipment, the VHF portable equipment were moved downstairs," Bambang explained. 

One window in the passenger terminal was broken. Damages, like cracks on the ceiling and half of the walls, were only visible at the fire fighters building. 

Meanwhile, facilities at the port area also suffered some damages. The old port sunk and shifted by 5 to 10 centimeters deep. The edges of the docks were also damaged by the friction. The new port area, however, remained in good condition. 

Sea Transportation Traffic director Leon Muhamad, who also visited the location, said the port is fully operational. "The 2009 budget will be used to rehabilitate the old port," Leon said. 

VENNIE MELYANI

Manokwari airport closed after quakes

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 01/04/2009 10:39 AM  

Authorities in Rendani Airport, Manokwari, West Papua has stopped activities in the airport following series of powerful earthquakes that hit the city earlier on Sunday, Kompas.com reported. 

The authorities and airlines operating in the airport agreed to stop every activity on security and safety concerns. 

An Express Air airlines flight heading for Manokwari from Jayapura, Papua, was forced to fly back following the decision. 

A series of powerful earthquakes hit at dawn, cutting power lines, badly damaging buildings and  killing at least three people in the area. 

A 7.6-magnitude quake struck at 4:43 a.m. local time about 135 kilometers from Manokwari at a depth of 35 kilometers, the U.S. Geological Agency said. The Meteorological and Geophysics Agency recorded that the quake was followed by eight others, with decreasing shocks. 

Manokwari Police chief Adj. Snr. Comr. Pit Wahyudi said that the police were working to evacuate two people buried under debris of Mutiara Hotel. Two hotels collapsed and hundreds of houses damaged after the quake, he said. 

A number of city residents has been evacuated to the local military command headquarters. There are approximately 70,000 people living in Manokwari. (dre)

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