SUARAJATIM.CO.ID- Tourism Minister Arief Yahya has been monitoring non-stop the management of Services and Transporting of foreign tourists out of Lombok Island. Through Ministry of Tourism Crisis Center team, Arief Yahya keeps reminding them to keep looking for the best possible ways to make them feel comfortable in the midst of a difficult environment.
At Lombok International Airport (LIA), there are still some tourists who are stranded and looking for flights to Jakarta, Bali and Surabaya. Minister of Tourism also asked Special Staff of the Access and Infrastructure Division, Judi Rifajantoro to request the airlines to fly again to Lombok to reduce the amount of stranded passengers.
“We are doing our best to seek for permission to the airport authorities if we can provide some kind of entertainment to cheer up the victims, as a result of many tourists are consindering to sleep in Lombok airport. At a minimum, they can be entertained, “said Guntur Sakti, Chairman of the Ministry of Tourism Crisis Center in Lombok.
LIA will be opened 24 hours until August 8, 2018 and still expecting the support of extra flights to fly tourists who are stuck at the airport. “According to Airport Authority – Angkasa Pura 1, there are one additional flight from Garuda Indonesia and 3 additional flights from Lion Air to Lombok,” said Guntur.
Tourism Minister Arief Yahya also quoted, PIC or contact person of the Ministry of Tourism Crisis Center (TCC) Team is Desi Ruhati. More over, TCC Lombok PIC is Guntur Sakti. TCC Bali Tourism Hospitality: Ngurah Putra and Byomantara. “Please communicate directly with them for the latest update, “said Arief Yahya.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi also said that until 11.00 WIB, she had received a report confirming that there were no victims of Foreign Tourist in the Lombok earthquake natural disaster. “We have checked with BNPB (National Disaster Management Agency) and Alhamdulillah, they are safe,” she explained.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also created Lombok Hotline Center that can be reached at + 62-87864124151 as a call center for foreigners who are currently in Lombok.
Minister Retno also monitored the activities of the Indonesia-Australia Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM) on Law and Security and the Sub Regional Meeting on Counter Terrorism (SRM ON CT) in Lombok. “Alhamdullillah all foreign delegations are safe, some have left Lombok,” Foreign Minister Retno said.
Minsitry of Foreign Affairs, Retno stated that her team has instructed Immigration Offices to provide excellent service to tourists and foreigners who lost their passports. It is very likely to lose some belongings during the evacuation process.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Armed Forces and Police Department sent their team off to Lombok to join the crisis management team to maintain the highest safety and security level. Personnel from Yonkes 2 Army Division departed from Abdurahman Saleh Airport, Malang, East Java, on the first flight and landed at 9.47am Central Indonesia time on a Hercules,
The team which was consisted of 64 personnel brought a set special equipment to build an emergency hospital on site, with mild medicine supply for approximately 500 people. Followed by the second team of 39 SAR personnel , departed from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, Jakarta.
A bigger team of 200 personnels belong to the Mobile Brigade Corps were sent to Lombok from East Java Police Department. “We really hope this will establish and maintain safety and security for everybody there.” (*)
