Donors to soon disburse $250m for Aceh

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.