Civil servants donate salary

KENDARI, Southeast Sulawesi: Two hundred and fifteen new civil servants here have agreed to donate part of their first month's salary to help the poor.

The civil servants announced their intention in front of Southeast Sulawesi Governor La Ode Kaimoeddin following their installation yesterday, Antara reported.

Each of them donated Rp 50,000 from their first salary, making up a total of Rp 10.75 million which will be given to the poor to help them buy subsidized rice.

The government is expected to begin selling rice to the poor at a subsidized price of Rp 1,000 per kg from next month. Each poor family will be allowed to purchase 10 kg of rice a month.

"The nine month operation will hopefully begin on August 1," Kaimoeddin said.