Downer offers alternative funding for RI projects
Downer offers alternative funding for RI projects
JAKARTA (Agencies): Australian Foreign Minister Alexander
Downer confirmed yesterday news that his government had offered
Indonesia a new funding program for projects that have been
affected by Canberra's decision to slash its foreign aid scheme.
Downer, facing strong criticisms at home, denied the charges
of reversing his early decision to abolish the Development Import
Finance Facility (DIFF), and maintained that the move had not
damaged Australia's relations with its Asian neighbors.
"I think it is one of the greatest myths of Australian
politics over the last few weeks that this has somehow done great
damage to Australia's standing in the region. It absolutely
hasn't," Downer told reporters at the ASEAN Regional Forum
meeting in Jakarta.
Downer has written to Indonesia, China, the Philippines and
Vietnam, offering alternative funding for the most important
projects which would have been halted by the decision to scrap
the DIFF program, a senior Australian official in Canberra told
Reuters yesterday.
The letter to development ministers in the four governments,
sent on Friday, offers to fund the most important projects that
had been in the pipeline for DIFF approval, using other aid
programs in fiscal 1996/97.
"I hope that the most urgent projects might still go ahead,"
Downer said in the letter, asking ministers to nominate key
projects for alternative funding.
Three on-going projects in Indonesia affected by the DIFF
axing were the solar energy program for eastern Indonesia,
drinking water for nine regencies in West Java and an equipment
for meteorological station, according to Indonesian sources.
Australia's embassy in Jakarta issued a statement on Monday
denying media reports that Indonesia's powerful Agency for the
Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), had blacklisted
Australian companies in retaliation over the DIFF decision.
Downer has been under intense pressure at home and abroad over
his decision to axe the A$120 million a year Development Import
Finance Facility (DIFF) soft loan scheme.
He faced sustained calls from the Labor opposition to resign
in June after he wrongly told parliament no foreign government
had protested his decision.
He later apologized for misleading parliament, admitting that
several senior figures in neighboring governments, including
Philippines President Fidel Ramos, had objected.
Canberra also came under fire from prominent business people
at home over abolishing the program, which provided soft loans
for infrastructure projects involving Australian companies.
Business and the Labor opposition said the abolition of DIFF
could jeopardize projects worth more than A$1 billion.
Canberra is due to unveil its 1996/97 (July-June) budget on
Aug. 20, and the official said Downer hoped for a speedy response
from the four governments.