ExxonMobil ups tsunami donation

ExxonMobil ups tsunami donation

JAKARTA: U.S.-based oil and gas giant ExxonMobil will increase
its cash donation for tsunami-hit nations in the region to more
than US$9 million, the majority of which will go to hardest-hit
Indonesia.

Visiting ExxonMobil vice president for Asia Pacific/Middle
East R.M. Kruger told reporters here on Wednesday that the
company had already donated $5 million, but it would contribute
more by matching dollar-for-dollar donations made by its
employees and suppliers worldwide.

The fund-raising program will close at the end of this month.
So far some $2 million has been collected, meaning that
ExxonMobil will match this amount.

"We're up to $9 million to date," said Kruger, who will be
visiting Aceh for a couple of days to see the scale of the
destruction caused by the Dec. 26 tsunami.

ExxonMobil, which recently surpassed General Electric as the
largest U.S. corporate by stock market value in the wake of huge
earnings from soaring oil prices, has been operating in oil-rich
Aceh for more than 30 years. About 300,000 Acehnese were killed
or declared missing as a result of the tsunami.

Part of the $5 million pledged by ExxonMobil has already been
channeled to various overseas and local institutions to help
finance emergency humanitarian relief operations.

Funds have been allocated to organizations such as the
American Red Cross, Save the Children, UNICEF, UNHCR, along with
a number of local Indonesian organizations, for the provision of
medical supplies, heavy equipment, food supplies, temporary
shelters, and teacher training.

Remaining funds will be used to help in the reconstruction of
tsunami-hit areas. Kruger said that the company was now waiting
for the government blueprint for the rehabilitation and
reconstruction of Aceh to avoid overlapping programs and ensure
efficient use of funds. -- JP