SUBANG JAYA: The armed forces are ready and willing to send a humanitarian mission to Palu, Sulawesi.
Armed forces chief General Tan Sri Zulkifli Zainal Abidin said, however, there had so far been no request from Indonesia for any sort of aid.
“Prior to this, we had only helped in sending some aid on board our A400M and C-130 transport aircraft. Alhamdulilah, our men managed to complete those missions and all our assets, including a navy ship, returned to Malaysia on Oct 10.
“Nevertheless, the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) and Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) are ready if any aid is requested from our neighbour... we are ready to move at any time,” he said after an event to commemorate the 85th Armed Forces Day at the Subang air base.
Present were Army chief General Datuk Seri Ahmad Hasbullah Mohd Nawawi, RMN chief Admiral Tan Sri Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin and RMAF General Tan Sri Affendi Buang.
At the event, 65 soldiers and veterans who are permanently disabled were feted and given donations of RM500 each from the Armed Forces Welfare Fund.
Meanwhile, Zulkifli said the armed forces was satisfied with the way the mission to send aid to Indonesia had gone.
He said this was especially so when it came to the use of the Airbus A400M Atlas.
“We managed to send over heavy items such as tanker lorries which are sorely needed by the republic so that water can be brought to the affected areas.
“So, the use of the A400M can be considered as highly significant. And, Malaysia was one of the first countries to offer aid,” he said.
Sulawesi was hit by a 7.4-magnitude earthquake on Sept 28 and this was followed by a tsunami which washed over Palu and Donggala.
Work to locate victims has since been called off, with Indonesian authorities putting the death toll at just under 2,000 at present.