President returns to Jakarta after running administration from Yogyakarta
After running the administration from Gedung Agung presidential palace in Yogyakarta since May 27, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono returned to Jakarta on Wednesday.
The Indonesian head of state began attending to his state duties from Gedung Agung presidential palace in Yogyakarta a few hours after a deadly quake hit Yogyakarta and Central Java killing over 5,400 people.
The President and several ministers directly supervised the handling of quake victims and aid relief distribution during their presence in quake-hit areas.
Before leaving Yogyakarta, Yudhoyono received the United States Ambassador to Indonesia, B Lynn Pascoe, at Adi Sutjipto airport.
In the meeting, Ambassador Pascoe discussed US relief assistance provided for quake victims.
The US Government through the USAID had approved an additional US$2.5 million in aid bringing the total amount of US financial aid to Indonesia to US$5 million.
The US military had sent personnel and many kinds of equipment to Indonesia to help victims of the earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter Scale.
The sending of the US military assistance including dental care equipment, X-ray, laboratory apparatuses and other medical tools was coordinated jointly by the US State Department and the Defense Department. PACOM said about 100 US Air Force personnel were sent from Guam and marines aboard USNS Mercy to Yogyakarta.
President Yudhoyono told the press that he has evaluated the emergency handling of quake victims and given instruction to the Yogyakarta and Central Java authorities on the matters.
In general he considered the handlings of injured people and food distribution were improving and more effective.
He asked the disaster management agency and the local authorities to function better and check the real condition of the people in their respective areas.
Yudhoyono said that Vice President Jusuf Kalla is scheduled to arrive in Yogyakarta on Thursday to continue monitoring of relief aid distribution to quake survivors and medical treatment of the injured people.
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