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Volunteers lend support, encouragement to search efforts

PANGKALAN BUN, INDONESIA — On a remote Kalimantan oil palm plantation 100km from the frontlines of search efforts for AirAsia Flight QZ8501, a group of 20 employees have been waking up at 4am to prepare refreshments for the search operations personnel.

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PANGKALAN BUN, INDONESIA — On a remote Kalimantan oil palm plantation 100km from the frontlines of search efforts for AirAsia Flight QZ8501, a group of 20 employees have been waking up at 4am to prepare refreshments for the search operations personnel.

After two hours, the 20 — employees of Indonesia conglomerate Sinar Mas are also members of an international humanitarian organisation Tzu Chi Foundation — hop onto vehicles laden with sliced watermelon and cucumbers and juices for a two-hour bumpy ride to Pangkalan Bun’s Iskandar Airport, where 300 military, police and other personnel have been stationed since the Dec 28 crash to facilitate search and recovery operations.

The volunteers are among the scores of civilians from Pangkalan Bun and the surrounding areas who have arrived at Iskandar Airport to lend their support in the past few weeks. Since debris and bodies were first discovered on the seas near the Central Kalimantan city, some 20 tents have mushroomed near the airport’s runway, providing water and food. High school students had given up their holidays in the first week of the search, helping to push parked planes and demarcate boundaries around the runway, before more Indonesian military and police personnel arrived.

Mr Jeffrey B Benzin, who oversees the 20 volunteers, told TODAY they have been volunteering since Jan 5, working in shifts of more than 12 hours. The costs are paid fully by the foundation.  “Sometimes we forget that the people who are working also need encouragement,” said Mr Jeffrey, who works as a regional controller at Sinar Mas.

Meanwhile, Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) spends about 2 million rupiah (S$211) a day to provide noodles, fruits, chocolates, biscuits and drinks at Iskandar Airport. The bank established a tent at the airport on Dec 30 and four to five staff have taken time off from work to support the search.

Citra Borneo Indah, one of the biggest oil palm companies near Pangkalan Bun, has set up two tents – one in Iskandar Airport and another at the nearby Kumai port – to provide water and lunches to personnel returning to shore after battling strong waves and heavy winds off Kalimantan. A total of 19 volunteers at both tents have been working three-day shifts since Dec 30.

The company spends about 5 to 10 million rupiah (S$529 to S$1,057) at each tent per day providing water and rice for 250 personnel.

“We came to support because we are concerned about the personnel. Hopefully, everyone can learn something from the crash, why tickets are so cheap, and whether the safety of passengers was ignored,” said Mr E Ramdani, 36, who is in-charge of the tent at the airport.

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