Ford provides grants for Indonesia

JAKARTA: The Ford Motor Company has awarded total grants of US$45,000 to an Indonesian citizen and four institutions to finance their nature conservation, and cultural and historical artifact research projects.

The four institutions are Yayasan Indonesia Hijau, Yayasan Tumbuh Mandiri Indonesia, the University of Indonesia's Batu Jaya archeological team and Yayasan Terumbu Karang Indonesia, the company said in a press release.

The individual grantee was not named in the press release.

The grants will be used to finance an education program in the Seribu Islands National Park (Yayasan Indonesia Hijau), a mangrove forest rehabilitation project in Wajo regency, Sulawesi (Yayasan Tumbuh Mandiri), an archeological study of the Baturaja artifacts in Kerawang, West Java (the University of Indonesia team), the cultivation and monitoring of ornamental coral reefs and the breeding of groupers in Indonesia (Yayasan Terumbu Karang).

The five grantees successfully beat off 44 other grant applicants.

Minister of Culture and Tourism I Gde Ardika was among the nine jurors in the competition. -- JP