Coca-Cola system in Indonesia lends helping hand to the needy
The bottlers of Coca-Cola in Indonesia never lose sight of their role in social welfare activities.
Their contributions run a gamut of worthy causes, from helping victims of natural disasters to sponsoring community health programs.
During this year, as two natural disasters devastated areas of West Java and Southern Sumatra, local bottlers were quick to mobilize resources to help out in the hour of need.
PT Coca-Cola Tirtalina bottling company of West Java donated tons of rice, hundreds of packages of instant noodles and equal numbers of items of clothing and basic commodities to residents displaced by severe flooding in the province.
About one million people were left homeless and more than 23,000 hectares of crops were destroyed as unusually heavy rains battered West Java in January.
PT Coca-Cola Pan Java's Lampung plant in Southern Sumatra came to the rescue in February after a powerful earthquake devastated the province. The earthquake, measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale, killed at least 200 people, left 3,000 seriously injured and destroyed several thousand homes and public buildings.
Communications facilities and transportation routes were crippled, and helicopters were brought in to airlift food and material packages to isolated areas. Coca-Cola Pan Java Lampung Plant presented 1,500 plants, 640 kilograms of nails, 2,000 meters of plastic sheeting to construct emergency tents, 200 lanterns and 200 tool kits to help residents begin the task of rebuilding their homes.
Projects
Coca-Cola efforts in other social welfare programs also encompass community care. Women and children living close to the Central Java bottling plant in Semarang have benefited from a program launched in 1993.
Doctors and health care assistants talk on a variety of health topics to villagers. Babies are weighed, advice given to pregnant women and immunization against disease is also made available, free of charge, to those who attend.
"The women in the villages are in need of reliable information about health matters," says Mugijanto, Managing Director of PT Coca-Cola Pan Java, the local bottler in the area. "It was for this reason that we launched the program and we hope soon to extend it to other villages near the plant."
PT Coca-Cola Indonesia was also one of the sponsors in 1993 of a new book on Ragunan Zoo, an important site for the breeding of endangered species. The company decided to participate to help increase awareness, appreciation and pride among Indonesians for the wealth of animal and plant species in the nation. Training programs
PT Djaya Beverages has accepted high school students as part of a summer work experience scheme over the last few years.
In all, 150 students were sent to various warehouses and the PT Coca-Cola Indonesia office in Jakarta. They helped with sales and marketing, motor vehicle maintenance, administration work and the production department.
The government has urged private industry to help out in solving unemployment problems and the Jakarta bottler responded quickly. "We have a commitment to the younger generation, and are happy to arrange this program," says Jannus Hutapea, Public Relations/External Affairs Manager of PT Coca-Cola Indonesia.