Hitachi Asia Indonesia raises more than 5 million Rp in Lombok relief efforts
A shocking news struck on 29 July, barely one week after PT. Hitachi Asia Indonesia (HAS-IDN)’s Company Trip to Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. A 6.4 magnitude earthquake took place in Mataram, a capital of West Nusa Tenggara1. It caused a landslide in Mount Rinjani, a popular tourist destination beside the island of Lombok. The quake was also felt in the neighboring island of Bali, according to Agus Riyanto, The Head of Mataram’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).
The following quake that happened on 5 August was considered one of the strongest at 7 magnitude2. The latest report confirmed 515 casualties and over 400,000 people lost their homes3. To date, a total of 1,973 earthquakes struck the island of Lombok and destroyed over 70,000 houses and 798 public facilities4.
To extend our goodwill, HAS-IDN in collaboration with our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) partner, Rumah Zakat, arranged for donation to be sent to the Lombok earthquake victims.
HAS-IDN employees gathered a total of Rp 5,308,400 and 40 pieces of mukena for adults, 10 pieces for children and 40 pieces of sarong.
Since Lombok is home to thousands of mosques and the majority of its people are Muslims, prayer dress (mukena) and sarong were provided to help victims take their minds off the quake.
HAS-IDN employees gathered a total of Rp 5,308,400 and 40 pieces of mukena for adults, 10 pieces for children and 40 pieces of sarong.
As timely as HAS-IDN wanted the donations to reach the victims, the first post-office special service for disaster unfortunately closed due to request overload. The second vendor preferred cash donations with an additional surcharge. HAS-IDN then seek help from Rumah Zakat and immediately, arrangement was made and the donation items were successfully delivered to Lombok without any additional fee on 7 September.
Hopefully, HAS-IDN’s little contribution will bring some comfort and relief to the people of Lombok and soon enough, the island’s tourism will flourish once again.
1 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/29/casualties-in-earthquake-on-indonesian-island-of-lombok
2 https://www.liputan6.com/news/read/3611609/headline-guncangan-kedua-lebih-kuat-gempa-lombok-fenomena-luar-biasa
3 http://news.metrotvnews.com/read/2018/08/21/918381/lombok-quakes-have-killed-515-people-in-past-two-months-bnpb
4 https://regional.kompas.com/read/2018/08/30/09163821/lombok-diguncang-1973-gempa-dalam-satu-bulan
