"The only aircraft that can land on the airport`s runway is the C-130 Hercules because 500 meters of its 2,500-long runway has been damaged by the 7.4-magnitude earthquake," he told journalists here on early Saturday.
The airport`s condition was worsened by the damages of its navigation system following the strong earthquake that rocked certain parts of Central Sulawesi Province, particularly the areas of Donggala District and city of Palu, he said.
As a result, it remains impossible for all kinds of aircraft to land and takeoff from the Mutiara Sis Al Jufri Airport, he said.
To fix the damaged navigation system, the Indonesian military and National Search and Rescue Agency`s personnel were transporting a navigation equipment from the South Sulawesi city of Makassar. They are expected to arrive in Palu at 06.00 local time.
"The navigation equipment is transported to Palu this morning so that the city`s airport will have been able to be landed by Hercules at around 10.00 am local time," Wiranto said.
With the remaining 2,000 meter-long runway, the Palu airport would uneasily be landed by jet aircraft, including Boeing 747, but the outcome of a more comprehensive check on the airport`s condition would be issued on Saturday morning, he said.
The Mutiara Sis Al Jufri Airport`s position is so significant to support the connectivity between Palu and other cities across the country in connection with the disaster relief operations.
The central government, he said, has prepared the Indonesian military`s C-130 Hercules for transporting the supplies of medicine, emergency tents, staple food, and clothes, as well as volunteers for helping the earthquake-and-tsunami victims.
At the moment, the communication networks at the disaster zones in Donggala and Palu remain damaged. Therefore, the government would temporarily provide satellite phones to make the disaster relief operations get easily coordinated on the ground, he said.
Due to this condition, the government could not yet determine the number of casualties.
"For the time being, we are providing satellite phones because the communication systems in the disaster zones still get failed, and we are attempting to fix the cellular networks there," he said.
Certain parts of Central Sulawesi, especially the areas of Donggala District and Palu, the province`s capital city, were rocked by a 7.4-magnitude earthquake on Friday afternoon.
The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) issued a tsunami warning following the earthquake. The tremors of the strong earthquake were also felt by those living in Mamuju District, around 237 km away from Donggala District.
In response to this catastrophe, President Joko Widodo has expressed his condolences to those affected by the earthquake and tsunami.
Reporting by Indra Arief Pribadi
Editing by Rahmad Nasution, Eliswan Azly
Reporter: Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto
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