TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Four RI sailors missing in Japan disaster
Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has confirmed that four Indonesian sailors were missing following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan
Change Size
F
oreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has confirmed that four Indonesian sailors were missing following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
“Today we had news that we cannot locate the whereabouts of our four sailors,” Marty said Sunday.
The four men, identified as Sunardi, Aripin Siregar, Rudi Hartono, and Tony Setiawan, were on board a Japanese ship in Shiogama port in Japan when the tsunami struck on Friday.
Marty said the Foreign Ministry has been trying to contact the families of the four sailors.
He said an Indonesian evacuation team had arrived at Sendai, one of the cities devastated by the tsunami, and had made temporary
camp there.
One-hundred-and-twenty-one Indonesians have been identified in Sendai. They will be transferred to Tokyo on Sunday.
“We are relocating them from Sendai to Tokyo. But the process will take time because we have to go by land. According to our ambassador, they will arrive [in Tokyo] on Monday. We hope the 121 Indonesians will get to Indonesia on Tuesday,” Marty said.
Meet the press: Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa speaks at a press briefing regarding the fate of four missing Indonesian sailors in tsunami-devastated Japan in Jakarta on Sunday. The Indonesian government is working to locate hundreds of its citizens in Japan. Antara/Andika Wahyu
He said the team would continue to identify and locate Indonesian citizens living in cities near Sendai.
According to Indonesian Ambassador to Japan Muhammad Lutfi, there are 25,000 Indonesians in Japan. Of that number, several thousands have been directly affected by the tsunami.
Meanwhile, the Bali provincial administration has been working to contact thousands of its residents currently working and studying in various cities in Japan.
Governor Made Mangku Pastika told reporters that he had contacted the Indonesian Embassy and other agencies in the country to obtain the latest information on Balinese who may be trapped in the country.
“We have not yet received accurate data on the number of Balinese people in Japan. Many of them
are already living there while the others work and study there,” the governor said.
Pastika also sent his deepest condolences and sympathy to the people of Japan and the government of Japan. “The Balinese people have a very close connection with the Japanese people. Japan has been the largest tourist market for Bali and we are very grateful to receive Japanese visitors to the island.”
Ilham Achmad, head of the Bali Migrant Workers Service and Protection Agency, said his office had contacted workers’ agencies in Japan. Every year, Bali sends migrant workers to countries overseas including Japan.
In 2010, Bali sent 4,549 workers to foreign countries.
According to data from the province’s transmigration and population office, 170 students from Buleleng, Karangasem and Jembrana regencies are working as interns in various companies and institutions in Hiraki province, Japan.
