Govt sends aid to Aceh<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government sent on Friday aid packages for 11,500 Acehnese
\nstudents after last week's burning of several hundred schools
\nduring the war to flush out the separatists in Indonesia's
\nwesternmost province of Aceh.<\/p>\n
From Aceh, the war has claimed at least 119 lives in its
\neleventh day on Friday, according to military estimates.<\/p>\n
Throughout the province over 434 schools have been torched in
\nmysterious arson attacks, depriving some 90,000 students of their
\neducation. The military blamed the arson attacks on the Free Aceh
\nMovement (GAM).<\/p>\n
\"The 11,500 aid packages were sent to support the learning
\nprocess of the poor,\" said the Minister of National Education A.
\nMalik Fadjar as quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
Each package contains writing and drawing books, school bags
\nand uniforms, stationery and sports outfits, among other things.<\/p>\n
The ministry also said it would send 120 tents to be turned
\ninto make-shift classrooms capable of holding 60 students. The
\nIndonesian Red Cross (PMI) will donate another 30 tents.<\/p>\n
The aid announcement came shortly after United Nations
\nChildren's Fund (Unicef) said it would send 300 aid packages and
\n800 tents for Acehnese students.<\/p>\n
Late on Tuesday, three tons of medical supplies from the World
\nHealth Organization and Unicef along with their international
\nworkers arrived in Aceh.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the Indonesian Air Force sent two Hercules
\naircraft to the province, carrying 3.2 tons of medical supplies
\nfrom the health ministry and Indonesian Military (TNI)
\nheadquarters.<\/p>\n
The planes also carried two ambulances and military vehicles
\nto support the humanitarian operation.<\/p>\n
Aceh, the only Indonesian province where Islamic law or sharia
\napplies, would also receive Rp 38 billion to repair Islamic
\nboarding schools, said Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agiel
\nMunawar on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The amount, he said, was a Rp 10 billion addition to the
\noriginal Rp 28 billion from the 2002 and 2003 budgets to renovate
\nAceh's Islamic boarding schools.<\/p>\n
But education is one of many humanitarian problems Aceh now
\nfaces since Jakarta declared an all-out war against GAM on May
\n19.<\/p>\n
Some 40,000 military and police personnel have been sent to
\nAceh, and on Friday Jakarta dispatched another 600 police
\nofficers.<\/p>\n
Fearing a rise in casualties, the Indonesian Red Cross warned
\nit was short of blood as the war continued to escalate.<\/p>\n
\"As of now we don't have enough blood to care for the expected
\nrise in casualties,\" said the provincial PMI spokesman Riya Ison
\nas quoted by Antara on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Riya said that daily demand for blood averaged between 20 and
\n30 bags. \"That (amount) is just enough to help patients who must
\nundergo surgery,\" Riya said and called on more Acehnese to donate
\nblood.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has launched its biggest military offense since the
\n1975 East Timor invasion, and imposed martial law in the province
\non May 19.<\/p>\n
Many expect the flow of refugees to swell in the coming weeks
\ndriven by fear of increasing violence toward civilians.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, TNI accused rebels of killing nine civilians
\nduring several attacks against villages, Antara reported, quoting
\nAceh Military Command spokesman Lt. Col. A. Yani Basuki. Last
\nweek, there were reports that the military was responsible for
\nthe death of some 10 civilians.<\/p>\n
At least 92 rebels have been killed since the war began on May
\n19, AFP reported, quoting military figures. The death toll among
\ncivilians, however, has climbed to 15, higher than the military
\nand police death toll of 12.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, State Minister of Communications and Information
\nSyamsul Mu'arif said the government might hire an international
\npublic relations firm to counter negative press coverage on the
\nAceh war.<\/p>\n
\"Our international public relations efforts have indeed been
\nweak,\" said Syamsul on Thursday. \"That's why foreign media
\ncoverage (on the Aceh war) has been detrimental to us.\"<\/p>\n
He admitted that the government was weak in directing public
\nopinion into supporting the war.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-sends-aid-to-aceh-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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