For Jan. 6/FOCUS ISSUE - bsr

For Jan. 6/FOCUS ISSUE - bsr

Caltex provides free
harelip surgery for
local children

Rahmat was 12 and Juniati was 11. Like the other kids in their
village of Aur Sati in the Tambang district of Bangkinang, Riau,
the two could often be found playing cheerfully in their
neighborhood.

As could Kurniati, 7, who lives in the small town of Kuala
Enok, Indragiri Hilir, Riau.

But their parents could not hide their grief, looking at their
happy-looking children, who were "different" from other kids
because of their harelips.

These destitute parents expressed their anguished feelings
neither through words, nor attitude. They did not even seek
solace from God.

They freely admitted, however, that their hearts often grew
heavy when they pondered the situation.

"The saddest part was when I wanted to breast-feed her,"
recalled Kurniati's mother, Darlis.

But again Darlis, like many other parents whose children have
cleft lips, simply kept their sadness deep inside, while holding
out for one desperate hope: that someday, someone would be able
to help her beloved little girl's appearance.

Hope, pray

Rahmat's mother, Siti Saodah, said both she and her husband
wanted to take her son to the hospital for an operation.

But there was a problem. "I couldn't financially afford it,"
she said.

After 12 years of hoping and praying, Saodah's dream has come
true, thanks to a surgical procedure performed by a medical team
sponsored by PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CPI).

"I'm extremely delighted," she said, after the successful
operation to remove her son's harelip took place late last month.

Rahmat, Juniati and many other villagers with the condition
underwent similar free procedures, which are carried out
regularly under CPI's community partnership program.

In the Tambang area, there are still a number of locals
awaiting the same free medical operation.

Kurniati and several others, including a nine-month-old boy
named Cipta Nugraha, also underwent a CPI-sponsored operation.

Operation

Between 1995 and 2000 alone, CPI has treated 227 harelip
patients through its regular free mass medical services, which
are conducted in the regions near its bases of operation in
Central Sumatra.

In any of its medical services, the team is led by a senior
doctor from the University of Indonesia, or leading hospitals in
Jakarta.

CPI is an international oil company which operates in
Indonesia under a production-sharing agreement with state oil and
gas company Pertamina, with operation areas in Riau, Sumatra.

The company employs 5,800 people, 200 of whom are based at its
Jakarta headquarters. The rest, meanwhile, can be found in CPI's
Central Sumatra operating area, where it explores for and
produces oil and natural gas from more than 100 oil fields,
including the world-famous Minas and Duri fields. More than 98
percent of CPI's employees are Indonesian national.

CPI today produces over 700,000 barrels of oil per day, which
represents half of the country's total oil output.

Proud to offer

In addition to offering operations to people with harelips,
CPI -- together with the Riau Coordinating Body for Social
Welfare through the Pekanbaru Tryni Foundation -- also provides
expenses for local children suffering from different types of
diseases. Some have had to be flown to Jakarta for treatment.

Nelda Srinopita, 9, who was diagnosed with a malignant tumor,
and Miftahul Hasanah, 6, who was born without an anus, underwent
a successful medical operation at Harapan Kita Hospital in
Jakarta in November of last year.

CPI president Humayunbosha said the free medical services were
just a part of the company's community partnership programs that
CPI was proud to offer with the aim of assisting both the public
-- living in and outside Riau -- and the government.

"Community partnership has become a CPI tradition with core
value which we expect to continue with programs that focus on
targets that are urgently needed by the people," Humayunbosha
said.

The three pillars of CPI's community partnership program, he
noted, are education, health and public welfare -- the latter
being a priority which the company will zero in on for the coming
years.

"But the other two categories also have to be carried out in
effective ways," he said.

"With a significant increase in local government revenue, in
line with autonomy, we have to project our community partnership
goals further, to help reduce any possibility of overlapping"
with local government programs, Humayunbosha said.