Natuna residents to be involved in naval exercise

The general logistics team will then move and set up makeshift hospitals."

Batam, Riau Islands (ANTARA News) - Around five thousand residents of Natuna and Anambas islands will be involved in the Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo 2014 in the Indonesian Riau Island provinces waters from March to April, exercise director Commodore Amarulla Octavian stated.

"It will also involve around four thousand to five thousand local people from two districts," he stated here on Thursday.

The exercise will take place in eight locations in Natuna and Anambas involving thousands of naval soldiers, he said.

Simulations during the exercise will be on the handling of natural disasters like tsunami and others that hit coastal regions, during which naval soldiers will evacuate victims and lead people to run for safety to a mountain, he explained.

"The general logistics team will then move and set up makeshift hospitals," he added.

Soldiers from participating countries will conduct an exercise on how to rebuild damaged physical structures such as bridges and houses.

He added that the disaster handling efforts will not only be done on land but also in the sea and therefore, a joint exercise is needed, he explained.

Besides exercises on tackling natural disasters, participating soldiers will also conduct an exercise on how to handle oil spills, gas leaks and evacuation at an off-shore oil rig.

"In Indonesia there are a lot of oil platforms," he remarked.

The Latma MNE Komodo 2014 is the first of the six exercises involving 18 countries scheduled to be carried out in the next 12 years.

The first exercise will be based on the theme of cooperating in order to maintain stability in the ASEAN region.

The head of the Indonesian Navys information service, Commodore Untung Suropati, stated in general, that the MNE Komodo 2014 is aimed at improving professionalism and readiness in cooperation to handle natural disasters.

The 18 countries to be involved in the exercise include the ASEAN ten member countries namely Indonesia as the host, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos and India, New Zealand, the US, Japan, China, South Korea, Russia and Australia as an observer.

(Reporting by Jannatun Naim/H-YH/INE/KR-BSR/F001)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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