Donors to soon disburse $250m for Aceh

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Multinational donors will soon disburse some US$250 million in assistance packages for the reconstruction of tsunami-stricken Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and some parts of North Sumatra, World Bank executives say.

The funds are among some $500 million in assistance funds pledged earlier by foreign donor countries and institutions following the massive disaster in the provinces late last year, said World Bank country director Andrew Steer on Thursday.

"Within the next four weeks, the World Bank and other donors are expected to sign an initial agreement with the Indonesian government for the disbursement of some $250 million," said Steer after a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

The funds, which will be disbursed in batches, are expected to be pooled in the government's so-termed multi-donor trust fund. Only recently, the World Bank transferred $25 million into the account.

At present, some $600 million in financial aid has been received by the government through the multi-donor trust fund from foreign donors.

The House of Representatives has approved the government's plan to allocate some Rp 8.15 trillion ($867 million) this year to reconstruct the damaged areas -- where more than 230,000 people died in the catastrophe.

It is estimated that the government may spend up to Rp 45 trillion in the next four years to rebuild the disaster areas.

Meanwhile, World Bank vice president Jemal-ud-din Kessum said during the meeting with Kalla, the agency had conveyed its support as well as satisfaction over the ongoing reconstruction efforts.

Kessum said the agency's officials would travel to Aceh this month to meet the head of the agency that oversees Aceh's reconstruction, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, to assess the progress made to date.

"We will observe reconstruction efforts in the field and directly evaluate the progress," he said.