From Koran Tempo

From Koran Tempo

The large number of foreign troops providing relief aid in
Aceh may open the opportunity for foreign intervention. Their
role should therefore be minimized by strictly implementing the
government's three-phase recovery policy.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has announced the plan for
tsunami-stricken Aceh, comprising three stages: Restoration,
reconstruction and development. Meanwhile, local volunteers'
access to the region should be facilitated.

With regard to foreign financial aid and loans, the government
should be careful because we have experienced difficult times
with the International Monetary Fund, resulting in economic
deregulation, subsidy abolition and privatization.

Let us hope that the debt moratorium offer from donor
countries will not have harmful consequences, whereas the
humanitarian aid from the United States and Australia must be
without any strings attached.

SUSAN ANGGRAENI
Bogor, West Java