$100m needed to rebuild Maluku, official says
$100m needed to rebuild Maluku, official says
JAKARTA (JP): The government can only provide US$40 million of
the $110 million needed to rebuild ravaged Maluku, Coordinating
Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty Eradication Basri
Hasanuddin said on Thursday.
"We are seeking funds from the international community," Basri
said.
The funds will be used to rebuild vital infrastructure such as
water supply and sanitation systems, provide food and medicine
and to help restart economic activities.
The minister was attending a ceremony to hand over donations
from religious organizations in Jakarta in the form of food,
clothing and medicine to Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Achmad
Sutjipto.
The organizations and groups include the Islamic Nahdlatul
Ulama, the Hindu committee for Nyepi celebrations, the Bhiksu
Kusalaphassa CASE, the Confucian Matakin and branches of
Protestant and Catholic organizations, GKI and KWI. Goods
totaling Rp 379.8 million were donated.
The minister said Kuwait, Britain and the Netherlands
confirmed their commitment to help Maluku.
Sectarian conflicts which erupted in January last year have
killed more than 2,000 people and destroyed thousands of homes
and public facilities.
He added that moves toward "preliminary reconciliation" were
happening in Denpasar, Bali, funded by the British government.
Fifty youth representatives chosen by various communities in
Maluku are meeting to find a solution. They are being guided by
experts from Britain and the Center for Security and Peace
Studies of Gajah Mada University.
"These (British) experts have been involved in reconciliation
in other places," Basri said. "We want to learn how they did it."
Several attempts at forging peace in Maluku have failed.
Basri said the government used conflict-resolution approaches
focused on security, reconciliation and welfare.
The Navy is running a humanitarian operation, called Surya
Bhaskara Jaya, to help in the distribution of aid, especially
medicine, to communities hard to reach by land and air
transportation in the archipelagic province. (08)