ICRC logistical hub for Aceh relief response fully operational in Singapore

The ICRC, in cooperation with the Singapore Red Cross Society and with help from the local authorities, has set up a logistics centre in Singapore to support the relief operation in Aceh. The centre is staffed by a five-man team comprising two logisticians, an air operations manager, an administrator and a purchaser.

Sixteen aircraft have already flown over 1,000 tonnes of relief supplies to the centre, which consists of receiving, transit and dispatch facilities and four rented warehouses with a storage surface of 3,700 square metres. Some 60,000 family kits are now being assembled at a pace of 5,000 kits per day with a view to rapidly meeting the basic needs of up to 300,000 people.
 
 On 7 January two Hercules C-130 aircraft lent to the ICRC by the Norwegian government for one month began flying relief goods to Aceh on a daily basis. The following day, an ICRC cargo vessel set out for Lokhseumawe, Aceh province, with 10,000 tarpaulins and 40,000 blankets aboard. Two more vessels will be operational by the end of this week.  
 
The ICRC, in coordination with the Indonesian Red Cross Society and other partners from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, has so far focused its relief efforts in Aceh on distributing non-food items, restoring access to clean water and providing hospitals with medical supplies.

 For further information, please contact:  

  Françoise Zambellini, ICRC Kuala Lumpur, tel. ++ 60 12 396 0921  

 Azrul Khalib, ICRC Kuala Lumpur, tel. ++60 13 348 6470  

  Martin Unternaehrer, ICRC Banda Aceh, tel. ++62 651 47679 / ++62 811 138 375  

 Vincent Lusser, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 79 217 32 64  

  Eros Bosisio, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 21 01