JAKARTA, 11 October 2007 - In a country often hit by natural disasters, Indonesia's armed forces should shift their focus from the battlefield to emergency and relief efforts, said its defense minister on Wednesday. Juwono Sudarsono said that most of the defense spending in the next decade would be spend on improving transport capability to be able to respond better to emergencies.

Sudarsono said he forsaw that in the next decade or so, the role of the force would be important in terms of delivering relief and aid to areas in need. "Looking ahead, for 10 years ahead in this ring of fire, and with tectonic plates underneath us, the bulk of our defense spending would be on transport capability for emergency responses," he said. That would include air and land transport as well as capacity over sea, he added in the interview.

He told that the military could react the quickest to disasters with airplanes and helicopters commandeered by the government for initial search and rescue efforts as well as providing emergency supplies. "As exemplified by the post-tsunami relief efforts, the army, the navy and the air force were first on the scene with transport ships, helicopters," he said.

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