PALU, Indonesia, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday visited several places in Central Sulawesi province's capital of Palu to check the disaster-relief efforts after the earthquakes and an ensuing tsunami.
"I come here today to check the current real condition after I gave the orders four days ago here related to evacuation (of bodies), power, fuel and logistics supplies, particularly the treatment for those injured by the disaster," the president said at Petobo village located in Southern Palu, a most devastated district from the earthquakes and tsunami.
The search of bodies and evacuation of people are being carried out according to plans, supported by heavy duty vehicles to support the process, Widodo said.
"Excavators have been set here and in Balaroa district as search of bodies has been intensified by the search teams," he added.
Petobo and Balaroa are two villages totally destroyed by the earthquakes and tsunami. Reports said the total devastation in the two villages caused a new phenomenon of liquefaction in natural disaster term.
The grounds in the two villages seemed like "liquifying", during which process constructions on the ground tumbled and were sucked down into the earth.
In Balaroa village, the 6.0-magnitude earthquake moved like waves that rattled on the ground, making houses, roads and all constructions seem like being dragged to a direction after they were rooted out from their foundations.
It resulted in a horrible view, with debris of collapsed houses and roads mixed and piled up to each other, witnesses said here.
It is believed that a huge number of bodies remain buried under the debris and mangled materials in Balaroa.
According to the president, power supply in some parts of the city have been recovered, carried out by 500 workers of state-run power utility firm PLN.
He added that as of Wednesday, power supply in Palu has reached 40 percent of its normal capacity.
Apart from that, fuel supply has also gradually returned to normal as its distribution to the most-affected areas has been done properly, he said.
Widodo called on shop owners and mini markets to open their businesses so as to quicken the economic recovery in the society, helping the economy return to normal again.
"After all of those processes, we would initiate rehabilitation and reconstruction activities to make Palu and other affected areas back to normal again," the president added.
The Indonesian military and police personnel were now seen guarding business districts to follow the president's order to swiftly resume economic activities in Palu.
Rampant looting in the last several days had forced stores, traditional markets and mini markets to close down their operations, which eventually paralyzed the city.
Deployment of military and police to guard business districts was intended to ensure the security for business people to resume their economic activities. The Indonesian authorities have arrested at least 45 ones caught red-handed in the looting of stores.
The Indonesian authorities said that the earthquakes and tsunami in the province have killed over 1,400 people, injured around 800, and displaced over 60,000 people.
