France builds radio station in Aceh

France builds radio station in Aceh

JAKARTA: The French government is helping to build a radio
transmission station on the west coast of Nanggroe Aceh
Darussalam (NAD), so as to provide communications in an area
devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunami.

A French Embassy representative, Pierre Devoluy, said that the
radio transmission station was being built at Blang Pidie, and
could cover a radius of some 60 kilometers.

"We are building the radio transmission station to allow the
refugees at Blang Pidie to get information on what is happening
outside the area," he was quoted by Antara as saying on
Wednesday.

Devoluy said that the station would be opened in July after
the completion of the construction work.

"The radio station will be managed by the local community. We
are also providing training for this," he said.

Radio transmission stations have already been built in major
cities along the coast, such as Banda Aceh, Meulaboh, Lhokseumawe
and Singkil.

The French government would also provide early warning system
equipment for Aceh, he said.

"For the long term, we are building a satellite station to
give timely warning. The satellite can send out warnings through
the radio stations around the coast," Devoluy said.

He said the embassy would finish construction of the satellite
station by the end of this year.

Also on Wednesday, French Ambassador Renaud Vignal said his
government had disbursed 60 million euros (US$72.5 million) for
relief work in Aceh over the past six months. The French
government has also offered soft loans of 150 million ($181.5
million) euros.

He said that the money and other assistance had been directly
provided to those who needed it to prevent corruption.

"We realize that there is a possibility that the money could
be misused. So, we try to deliver our assistance directly to the
community and to minimize the number of staff involved in the
operation," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

Vignal said that the French Embassy was tightly monitoring the
local and international non-governmental organizations
responsible for disbursing the relief aid. "There have been no
reports of misuse of the money," he said. -- JP