Padang - The United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) has commended Indonesia`s emergency response actions in the aftermath of the magnitude-7.6 earthquake in Padang, West Sumatra.

     "UNDAC is of the opinion that Indonesia is more than able to overcome the problems in West Sumatra after the devastating earthquake," UNDAC team leader Winston Chang said here on Thursday.

     He said Indonesia was so good in its emergency response actions that a lot of technology which UNDAC had prepared for the evacuation of quake victims had remained unused.

     "What Indonesian people have done in West Sumatra earthquake management is outstanding because all systems in the field are running smoothly," Winston Chang said.

     He said cooperation between international non-governmental institutions and the Indonesian government in earthquake management processes was also running very well.

     "In UNDAC`s view, Indonesia is skilled enough in handling the disaster but it continues cooperating well with international parties as part of the world`s community`s joint commitment," Chang said.

     More than 700 people have been killed, at least 340 others remain , and thousands of others have become homeless after the strong quake rattled West Sumatra.

    Meanwhile, a United Nations Children`s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson, Leli Djauhari, said here on Thursday that UNICEF had provided 250 tents for the quake victims in Padang city and Padang Pariaman district.

    She said the tents could be used as temporary shelters for the activities of children whose schools were damaged by the earthquake.

    According to UNICEF, a total of 15 tents have been set up in Padang city, among others at SMA Negeri 1 (senior high school) and SD (elementary school) Gurun Laweh.

     Besides tents, UNICEF was also providing emergency study tool packages for about 4,800 school children. Each of the packages contains 80 study tool items such as books, ballpoints and other things.

     Leli said that UNICEF would do its best to encourage children to return to school after the earthquake which killed at least 700 people.
   
-Antara, 09 october 2009-