Basic needs assistance from President Joko Widodo for victims of floods in South Kalimantan has been distributed in hard-to-reach remote and isolated areas with the help of air transportation, officials said.
"Today, members of the Regional Leadership Communication Forum and I rode the helicopter to directly bring the President's aid to those who were isolated due to the floods," said Governor of South Kalimantan, H Sahbirin Noor, in Banjarbaru on Tuesday.
Aside from distributing aid, he also conducted a patrol and reviewed the flood situation from the air.
"We have distributed aid in areas that seemed to be difficult to reach through water and land transportation means with helicopters," he said.
At present, a number of areas remain cut-off by the massive floods that hit South Kalimantan in the last week.
The areas that have been the most affected include Banjar, Tanah Laut, Hulu Sungai Tengah, Tabalong, and Barito Kuala districts.
Two helicopters each belonging to the National SAR Agency and the National Disaster Management Agency ferried the governor's entourage, which included the deputy of search and rescue operations and preparedness at the National SAR Agency, Bambang Suryo Aji, from the Syamsudin Noor International Airport in Banjarmasin.
Commander of the Sjamsudin Noor Banjarmasin Air Base, Colonel Pnb M Taufiq Arasj, stated that 250 food packages from the President were distributed in the first phase of the relief program. (INE)
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