Region-Wide Disaster Response Team Proposed

Mactan, Philippines - Indonesia is sounding out neighbouring countries on a proposed region-wide "disaster mitigation team," spurred by December's devastating tsunami, its foreign ministry spokesman said.

The proposal would be raised by Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda in Monday's informal retreat with his fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers in the central island resort of Mactan, foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa told reporters late Sunday.

"This is our proposal. We want some commitments from Asean," he added. He said the other nine Asean members Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam would be urged to allocate funds and personnel to create the "Asean disaster mitigating team."

The team would comprise military and civilian personnel who could be deployed swiftly within hours of a major disaster, like December's Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 217,000 people including nearly 164,000 in Indonesia.

"We need to learn from what we experienced in the tsunami," Natalegawa said. "We want to minimise the gap between what happened and the response."

The Asean foreign ministers are also expected to discuss other issues such as Myanmar's controversial chairmanship of Asean next year. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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