Donors race to help disaster victims
Donors race to help disaster victims
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
More individuals, organizations, companies and foreign countries
responded swiftly on Wednesday in giving donations for victims of
the cataclysmic tsunami and earthquake that leveled parts of Aceh
and North Sumatra three days earlier.
Domestic donors ranged from businesspeople and politicians to
students and low-income people across Indonesia, following
appeals by the government and private groups for the nation to
show solidarity for the victims.
Several student groups in Jember, East Java, collected
donations at intersections and housing complexes from local
residents. The same was done by other students in Cirebon, West
Java, and several other town and cities.
In Jakarta, House of Representatives members canceled their
visits to regions during the current recess and asked the House
leaders to shift the fund for the trips to help the survivors of
Sunday's disaster.
In addition, the 53 legislators of the National Mandate Party
(PAN) pledged to donate their January salaries for humanitarian
aid in Aceh and North Sumatra.
"We will not receive our salaries in January. We will also
collect more donations for the bereaved ones," PAN faction
chairman Abdillah Toha said.
He said the sheer enormity of the disaster meant the
government would be unable to handle it alone and urged the
authorities to allow international aid agencies to enter Aceh.
Similarly, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) said it was collecting money
and donations in kind from its some 40 million members to aid the
tsunami victims. As of Wednesday, the country's largest Muslim
organization collected one truck of instant noodles and 2,000
sarongs.
In Bali, businesspeople planned events to celebrate the New
Year, through which they would collect donations from holiday-
makers on the resort island.
A number of music groups in Bali, including Lolot, Pandawa,
and Superman Is Dead, also planned to organize a concert, the
revenue from which would be channeled to the victims.
Bandarlampung Mayor Suharto has instructed civil servants in
the city to put aside a part of their salaries for the victims.
Many major domestic and foreign companies also showed similar
solidarity for the disaster victims.
Mining company PT Medco Energy Internasional allocated Rp 10
billion (US$1.1 million) in humanitarian aid for the victims
through the Indonesian Red Cross and the Coordinating Ministry of
People's Welfare.
Newmont Mining Corp. pledged to provide Rp 5 billion through
the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, while cement firm
PT Indocement Tunggal Perkasa donated Rp 2 billion.
The Kediri-based PT Gudang Garam cigarette maker said it was
sending 1,000 tons of rice from Medan to Banda Aceh, and asked
its employees to donate for the victims.
Meanwhile, the United States gave an additional $7 million and
Japan provided $250,000 in addition to its earlier donation of
$1.5 million.
The British government pledged 15 million pounds ($29 million)
to help the Aceh victims, saying it was going to send a plane
loaded with medical supplies for WHO Indonesia.
As humanitarian aid was pouring into Aceh, hundreds of
passengers were stranded at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport
for hours on Wednesday.
They were left in limbo as several flights to Medan from the
airport were delayed in order to make way for international aid
agencies to land their planes on the tarmac of Medan's Polonia
Airport.
List of selected donors
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Donor country or group Donation
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1. Jakarta Int'l Container Terminal Rp 1 billion
2. Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. US$615,000
3. SingTel - "Helping Our Neighbors" S$200,000
4. Air Asia air services
5. Lion Air air services
6. Caltex Pacific Indonesia US$100,000
7. United States $7 million
8. Japan $250,000
9. Britain $29 million
10. Taiwan $100,000
11. Medco Rp 10 billion
12. Newmont Rp 5 billion
13. PT Bank OCBC Rp 853.8 million
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