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Further to the emergency supplies of public health items to the Thai Government on January 1, the second consignment of relief supplies from Hong Kong will be arranged for direct flight to Jakarta, Indonesia by air today (January 7).

Upon direct appeal by the Indonesian Government, the consignment includes 76 tons of emergency supplies including bottles of drinking water, tents, blankets and torches. The freight is scheduled for arriving at Jakarta early morning tomorrow.

Free freight arrangement was generously offered by the Cathay Pacific Airways (CPA) and Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (HACTL).

In taking over the consignment on behalf of the Indonesian Government, the Consul-General of the Indonesian Consulate in Hong Kong, Mr Paiman Turnip, expressed gratitude to the positive and proactive response of the HKSAR Government. He also thanked the Cathay Pacific Airways and HACTL for their public-spirited offers that have made the speedy delivery possible.

General Manager, Corporate Communication of the CPA, Mr Alan Wong, said they had close links with all the countries affected and were pleased to help in any way that they could. Operating a free freighter on behalf of the Hong Kong SAR Government helped send a message of sympathy and support from Hong Kong people. The CPA has also decided to increase the tonnage to be transported from 50 tons to 76 tons.

The HKSAR Government is also liaising closely with official representatives of the governments of other affected countries to ascertain their needs and to map out practical arrangements with a view to providing emergency aid to the victims in a timely manner. These countries include Maldives and Sri Lanka.

The direct shipments at the government to government level have been made possible under a special mechanism set up by the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) Advisory Committee for this major disaster. The special mechanism enables the HKSAR Government to respond expeditiously to direct appeals from governments of the affected countries. A total of $8 million has been earmarked for this purpose. The DRF will allocate more funds to address further requests from these governments if required.

Ends/Friday, January 7, 2005

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