Germany helps reconstruct damaged schools in Aceh

Germany helps reconstruct damaged schools in Aceh

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Germany is participating in the reconstruction of Aceh through
the Indonesian-German Disaster Relief Committee (INDOGERM-
direct).

INDOGERM-direct has so-far raised 2.4 million euro (US$3.1
million) to build boarding schools, rehabilitate secondary and
vocational schools, and to provide scholarships. It will also
help re-establish fishery businesses in local communities,
chairman Danny Jozal said recently.

The projects will be a follow-up to the disaster relief
efforts that Germany has been involved in up until now.

"The blueprint for boarding school construction and public and
vocational school reconstruction will be drafted in coordination
with the National Disaster Management Coordination Board
(BAKORNAS PBP)," said Danny.

"The number of schools to be reconstructed will be determined
later after further research and discussion with the local
community and opinion leaders to make sure that we give the
Acehnese what they actually want."

The committee consists of representative from 45 Indonesian
and German companies.

As part of the committee's long-term commitment to rebuilding
Aceh, the Swiss German University-Asia in Bumi Serpong Damai,
Tangerang, will provide 20 full scholarships for Acehnese high
school graduates.

University rector, Peter Pscheid, said the scholarships would
cover school fees, insurance, living costs and books for a full
bachelor's degree for a duration of four years. Each scholarship
is worth around 5,000 euro per student per year.

"Some of the criteria (to obtain a scholarship) includes an
average (subject) score of eight, basic English skills, and good
behavior," he said.

As many Acehnese make a living from fishing, INDOGERM-direct
plans to develop an Integrated Fisheries Concept that includes
the design and construction of fishing boats, as well as cool
rooms and fish processing rooms.

The design and number of fishing boats will be determined
after further research and consultation with the local
fishermen's association, Panglima Laut, according to Franz-Josef
Zieroff, the Regional Representative of MAN Ferrostaal AG, an
international provider of industrial systems and equipment.

"We want to make sure that the boats are usable and are what
the Acehnese really want. We will therefore involve them in
designing the boats," he said.

He added that the design and number of boats for the province
would be adjusted to the needs of each local community along the
east and west coasts.

Germany will also install Tsunami Early Warning Systems.
German Federal Minister of Education, Sciences and Research
Buhlman will sign a joint declaration on the installation of the
systems on Monday.

The signing will take place after a workshop on tsunami early
warning systems at the Hotel Atlet Century in Jakarta.

The German minister will be staying in Indonesia for six days,
where she will also visit the Bogor Institute of Agriculture and
the German Center for Trade and Industry at Bumi Serpong Damai.
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