It has been one month since earthquake, tsunami, and liquefaction hit Palu, Sigi, and Donggala on September 28th, and it still left significant damages to some facilities in Tadulako University (Untad). After getting visited by the Minister of Research, Technology, and Higher Education a short time ago, Untad accepted the visitation from a humanity organization based in Singapore called Crisis Relief Alliance, on Thursday (10/26/2018). They were directly welcomed by the Rector of Untad along with the Vice Rectors, and the Head of Institute for Research and Community Services at the temporary rectorate office, Gedung B of Postgraduate Campus of Untad.
The humanity team from Singapore consisted of doctor, nurse, and lecturer from Nanyang Technological University Singapore including Mr. Philip Quek, Mr. Ng Sin Ain, Ms. Jasmine Heng, Mr. Robert M., and dr. Michael Lim. They came to Palu with the intention of getting involved in the recovery process of Untad after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck the city.
On that meeting, the Rector, Prof. Dr. Ir. Muhammad Basir, S.E., M.S., along with the Vice Rector for Partnership Affairs, Prof. Dr. Mery Napitupulu, explained the latest condition of Untad after the earthquake.
“We really appreciate you, Crisis Relief Alliance team, for your visitation and assistance to Untad in this post-earthquake recovery phase. Currently, we are based in the postgraduate building since the rectorate is no longer able to use properly. There are a lot of changes after the earthquake hit our campus, definitely we need to adapt. Moreover, there are many students who become survivors, their houses are damaged, and of course it affected their readiness to come back to campus.”
“We have not any concrete database yet concerning damage assessments, however, based on visible evidence, we predict that about 70% buildings in Untad area cannot be used anymore including the latest Academic Hospital which has been launched on last October. Yet, we still ask the students to attend the class in the next semester, so we can keep the campus atmosphere alive in this post-earthquake recovery phase,” said Prof. Basir.
On the same moment, Prof. Dr. Mery Napitupulu also explained about campus activities after the disaster and the latest condition of the students of Untad.
“When the earthquake struck, Untad still has 27 international students who are in the process of studying and now they already went back to their homecountry. We also ask them to keep in touch with the university. We need to highlight that in this situation, the survivors do not only come from students, but also we as lecturers/academicians. Therefore, what we can do today is trying to support each other in order to make Tadulako University bounced back after the disaster,” said Prof. Mery.
After the hearing session presented directly by Prof. Muhammad Basir and Prof. Mery Napitupulu, the Singapore – Crisis Relief Alliance team inspected several sites in Untad which have more critical impacts such as the Academic Hospital, the Media Center, and Faculty of Forestry.
Documentation of the Post Condition of Tadulako University Area after September 28th 2018 Earthquake :
