684 schools receive ADB grants

684 schools receive ADB grants

KENDARI, Southeast Sulawesi: At least 684 state and private
high schools in Southeast Sulawesi received grants totaling Rp
49.48 billion (US$5.8 million) from the Asian Development Bank
(ADB) from 1999 through 2002.

Burhan Said, a consultant with ADB's Assistance Scheme for
Facilities Improvement, said the funds were used to build
laboratories and libraries, to buy books and to construct new
classrooms or renovate school buildings.

"The funds were directly transferred to the bank accounts of
each school and were administered by the management of each
school," Burhan was quoted by Antara as saying on Saturday.

Burhan said each school received between Rp 60 million and Rp
100 million, depending on their respective needs.

ADB disbursed Rp 2.26 billion to 23 schools in 1999, Rp 7.5
billion to 117 schools in 2000, Rp 17.07 billion to 280 schools
in 2001 and Rp 22.68 billion to 264 schools in 2002.

Burhan said the ADB would provide similar grants in 2003, but
the amount of money and the schools that will receive the money
had yet to be determined. --Antara

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Across-Medan-poverty-population
Number of poor soars in North Sumatra
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Number of poor soars in North Sumatra

MEDAN: The number of people living in poverty in North Sumatra
has nearly doubled over the past five years, a local health
official says.

The head of the North Sumatra Health Office, Fatni Sulani,
said on Saturday that as of December 2002 there were 2.993
million people officially classified as poor in the province, up
from 1.5 million five years ago.

Fatni said residents classified as poor were those who could
not afford medical treatment or necessary medicines.

According to data from the health office, Medan municipality
has the highest number of poor with 624,755 people, followed by
Nias regency with 503,595, Deliserdang with 335,570, Langkat with
245,675 and Labuhan Batu with 174,155.

Fatni said poverty in the province had soared since the
economic crisis struck the country in 1997. --Antara

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Across-Denpasar-AIDS
HIV/AIDS cases increase in Bali
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HIV/AIDS cases increase in Bali

DENPASAR, Bali: Seventy new cases of HIV/AIDS were discovered
in Bali in the first two months of 2003, bringing to 321 the
number of people with HIV/AIDS in the province, a health official
said on Saturday.

Citing a survey by the Bali Health Office, Bali AIDS
Prevention Commission official Tuti Parwati said most of new
HIV/AIDS patients were intravenous drug users or commercial sex
workers.

"We urge people with HIV/AIDS to seek medical treatment of
their own free will and to as much as possible avoid activities
that could spread the virus," Tuti said.

It is not known if all of the new HIV/AIDS patients are
Indonesians.

Bali detected its first HIV/AIDS case in 1987, and the number
of people in the province with the condition has been rising
steadily even since.

As of December 2002, Bali had 251 people with AIDS. Only
Jakarta, Papua, Riau, West Java and East Java have more AIDS
patients. --Antara

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Across-Riau-KL-ferry
Riau to open ferry service to KL
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Riau to open ferry service to KL

PEKANBARU, Riau: The provincial transportation office here
will open a sea-lane between Pekanbaru and the Malaysian state of
Malacca this month, an official said on Saturday.

"We have been developing Sungai Duku Port in Pekanbaru into an
international port that can support the opening of the new sea-
lane," the head of the provincial transportation office, Pria
Budi, said.

The decision to open the new sea-lane was made following a
survey conducted by PT Marina Suliki Abdi, which found that there
was an increasing public need the service, he said.

Currently, anyone wishing to travel from Pekanbaru to Malacca
must first go overland to Dumai Port before crossing over to
Malacca.

The trip from Pekanbaru to Dumai is often difficult because of
heavy traffic, Budi said.

To support the development of Sungai Duku Port, the provincial
administration has opened facilities such as an immigration
office, a customs and excises office, and a health office near
the port.

Budi said a ferry would ply the route from Pekanbaru to
Malacca. The trip will take seven to eight hours and tickets will
cost Rp 200,000 to Rp 300,000 per person.

The ferry will make the crossing twice a week, though this
could be increased to daily crossings if demand is high, he said.
--Antara