Desire expressed to rebuild Ambon

AMBON, Maluku: Foreign ambassadors and representatives from international agencies and non-governmental organizations have expressed their commitment to attend a workshop on the reconstruction of strife-torn Ambon, Ambon Mayor Jopie Papilaya said on Friday.

"Foreign ambassadors, leaders of United Nations agencies and NGOs are committed to attending the two-day workshop, even though it has to be rescheduled."

The workshop, originally scheduled for July 20-21, was delayed because most of the participants were too busy, he said.

Many participants had asked the Ambon administration to hold the workshop on the city's 428th anniversary on Sep. 7, he added.

Ambon, the capital city of Maluku province, was hit by three years of violence between Muslims and Christians, believed fueled by elements of the Indonesian Military (TNI).

"The aim of the workshop is to reconstruct Ambon and therefore the participants want to obtain firsthand information on what the Ambonese want," he said.

Assistance sent to Ambon had been used to rebuild infrastructure, which was heavily damaged during the conflict, he said.

"With the reconstruction program, it is expected that Ambon can be developed into Maluku's business center in 2004," he said. --Antara