Possible Singapore hospital in Aceh

From CNA (Jan 31):

BANDA ACEH: As tsunami-hit areas like Banda Aceh move into the recovery stage, it is in doing specific projects that Singapore can continue to help...

[Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan said:] "I think Singapore can do a great deal to help in Banda Aceh. For example, one of the proposals I will be taking up with Indonesian officials when I meet them is the construction of a 150-bed hospital."

(Tony Tan is on a visit to Banda Aceh and Jakarta; see e.g., CNA, Jan 30). To continue, there's also bits about our NGOs and other groups continuing Singapore's assistance after the departure of the SAF and SCDF:

As uniformed personnel start scaling back efforts in Banda Aceh, medical groups continue to labour on. They include City Harvest which arrived there two days after the tsunami struck and plans to stay on till end February.

Desmond Sim of City Harvest said: "We still see a lot of cuts and wounds, people who have gone back to their homes and stepped on nails. We also see the relief workers."

Zaibal Abidin Hospital, one of the biggest hospitals in Banda Aceh, was badly affected by the tsunami, but it has since resumed operations.

And Alexandra Hospital staff who arrived there two weeks after the tsunami are still helping out.

NGOs like Mercy Relief aim to be in for the long haul, even when the homeless are already put up in semi-permanent settlements.

It's been a while but looks like things are moving along, and in the general direction of my "modest proposal" as well (see this post).