Desire expressed to rebuild Ambon

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