Transcripts of Interviews to Channel News Asia (CNA) and NewsRadio given by Mr Andrew Tan, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore

On 2 Jan 2005

Q (CNA) Tell us a bit more on Singapore's offer to be a regional coordination centre for UN relief efforts.

A We are glad to offer ourselves as a regional coordination centre for the UN. We see this as an imperative because of the reports we have been receiving. There is aid building up in airports, in ports, because the system itself is becoming overloaded. We are concerned that if we do not address this issue quickly, if we do not come in pre-emptively to offer our facilities and our base for the UN relief agencies to do their work, we might have to bear with another crisis of sorts, where there will be people that do not receive this aid that they need, people who are homeless, people who need medical attention. So, I think what we need to do now, is to coordinate these efforts and we are prepared to help the UN do it better, by coordinating, with the facilities we have in Singapore.

Q (CNA) Do you see this as an expansion of Singapore's role in this humanitarian situation?

A We have been working very closely with the UN. We are in touch with them and they are in touch with us. And what we need to do right now, is to work together with the other relief agencies under the UN umbrella and see how best we can actually pump this aid from all the donors coming in to the areas where they are most needed.

On 3 Jan 2005

Q (NewsRadio) Why is Singapore offering itself as a regional centre?

A Since the disaster struck on Sunday, we have been helping the UN in various ways to ferry these supplies to the affected areas in Thailand and Indonesia. The UN has now accepted our offer to set up a regional coordination centre for relief and reconstruction. We are glad that the UN has accepted this offer because it gives us a role to help improve the situation in terms of relieving the congestion that is building up in some of these places. The international community has been immediate and generous in their response. They have pledged huge amounts of aid. The challenge right now is to make sure that this aid reaches to where the people are and there are people that are homeless, there are people who have lost their livelihoods, and I think the key right now is to make sure that this aid gets to them quickly and Singapore can play its part.

Q (NewsRadio) But why would Singapore be most appropriate to help in this area?

A Our advantages are several. First we have assets and people on the ground. In Indonesia and Thailand we have heavy transport helicopters there, such as our Chinooks. We also have our Super Pumas. They are flying daily sorties bringing aid from the various distribution points to the villages and the remote areas. So the UN can actually make use of these assets that we have there. Secondly, as Singapore is a transport and logistics hub, it is just a natural extension of what we are doing in terms of facilitating the large movement of all these aid that can be delivered.

Q (CNA) How much would this operation cost?

A This is a huge operation given the unprecedented nature of the disaster . Singapore can play a part. What we have been doing so far is helping the UN and other relief agencies bring the aid to the places that most require them. With the setting up of a regional coordination centre for relief and reconstruction, it will give us a greater role. Together with our pledge of $5million, this centre together with all our assets that are deployed comes up to a very significant amount. But the key right now is actually to make sure that this aid itself gets right down to the people in the remote areas so that a public health disaster can be averted.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
4 JANUARY 2005