Govt imposes tax on refugee aid

AMBON, Maluku: Maluku acting governor Sinyo Harry Sarundayang denied embezzling part of the financial aid earmarked for refugees in the province, saying the government had imposed no levies, but only tax on funds allocated for the construction of low-cost houses.

"It is not true that local authorities have embezzled a part of the financial assistance allocated for refugees as many people have alleged," Antara quoted him as saying on Monday.

Sarundayang conceded that the government had cut Rp 45,000 (US$5) from every Rp 3,000,000 distributed to each refugee family for construction materials, so that each family received Rp 2,955,000.

"So far, both the provincial administration and the central government have provided a total of Rp 10 million in aid for each refugee family to build a low-cost house," he said.

There are still around 6,000 refugees at the naval base in Halong, who have not received the funds. They are part of the approximately 750,000 people displaced by the sectarian conflict between Muslim and Christian groups in the province between 1999 and 2002. Around 6,000 people were killed in the conflict. -- Antara