The road was jammed because many people wanted to bring the donations by themselves. It was difficult to move, especially for ambulances. Hence, I took the initiative to open a donation post to help transport the assistance, starting on Saturday. WeJakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) will open a post dedicated to collecting assistance for the Cianjur earthquake victims that will become operational on November 26 at the ministry's office on Salemba 28 Street, Jakarta.
Social Affairs Minister, Tri Rismaharini, stated on Friday that the decision was taken to open the post on the basis of traffic jams on Cianjur's roads that hindered the movement of ambulances. The roads were packed with vehicles distributing social assistance to the region.
“The road was jammed because many people wanted to bring the donations by themselves. It was difficult to move, especially for ambulances. Hence, I took the initiative to open a donation post to help transport the assistance, starting on Saturday. We will receive assistance in the form of money or other necessary stuffs," the minister remarked.
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She expressed hope that the donation post opened by her ministry would reduce the burden of road congestion in Cianjur. She noted that access roads in Cianjur were getting narrower to remote areas.
"Roads to reach remote locations on top of the mountain were getting smaller. The higher it gets, the narrower the road is," she pointed out.
Apart from money, the ministry's donation post will accept food, clothing, diapers, toiletries or personal hygiene items.
"People can also send food. However, there are many requests from refugees starting from pampers, clothes, and toiletries. Yesterday, we supplied them toiletries, personal hygiene kits, and underwear as well," she noted.
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People looking to distribute donations in the form of money can send them through the BNI account number 0461457520 under the name of RPL182 DIT PSDBS KEMENSOS HIBAH 2LLSHDT2.
The ministry will later issue regular reports on the assistance provided by the community. The distribution of donations to disaster locations will be conducted twice to three times a day, Rismaharini remarked.
According to the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck at 1:21 p.m. local time on November 21, 2022. It was centered 10 km southwest of Cianjur District, West Java, at a depth of 10 km, with no potential to trigger a tsunami.
On Thursday, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) announced that the earthquake killed 272 people. Some 165 of them have been verified, while the identities of 107 bodies had yet to be confirmed.
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Translator: Rizka Khaerunnisa, Resinta S
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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