Deadline nears for dispensing aid

WAMENA, Irian Jaya: Hundreds of millions of rupiah in scholarships and educational assistance for Jayawijaya might go down the drain if the regency fails to disburse it in the next three days.

The head of the national education office for Jayawijaya regency, George de Fretes, revealed on Thursday that Rp 250.46 million of total Rp 1.1 billion allocated for the regency had yet to be disbursed.

The funds are to provide scholarships for children in the regency and assistance for operational costs of schools.

"The deadline, as indicated by the central government, is Dec. 20," he said.

"If the funds are not disbursed by then it would have to be returned to Jakarta."

Natural elements seem to be the main obstacle to distribution of the aid.

George explained that many of the children and schools due to receive the assistance live in extremely remote areas and cannot reach Wamena, or it would be too expensive to deliver it to them.

He pointed to students living in Oksibil district who needed to take two airplane trips to reach Wamena.

George said that his office was working together with several foundations to disburse the funds but the vastness of the territory and difficulty of terrain meant that not all could be reached.

"We hope there can be a special policy introduced under such circumstances so the funds will not have to be returned to Jakarta and can still be used for the children here."

A total of 9,702 students, from elementary to high school levels, have been selected to receive the scholarships.(mds)