Canadian Red Cross to donate houses

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: Following the lead of other donors, the Canadian Red Cross is planning to build some 2,500 houses in the stricken regency of Aceh Besar. The construction of the houses for tsunami victims will begin in September. The houses will be built in two districts in Aceh Besar regency.

The plan was sealed in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on Friday by the Canadian Red Cross representative, Jean Slick, and Aceh Besar Regent Zaini Azis.

Slick said that the Canadian Red Cross was currently collecting information on who deserved to get the houses. Besides building the houses, the Canadian Red Cross would also build public facilities such as schools and clean water installations.

A total of 1,632 houses will be built in Masjid Raya district, and some 800 in Baitussalam district.

The two districts were the hardest hit by the tsunami on Dec. 26 last year, which claimed the lives of some 129,000 people in Aceh province alone. -- JP