Japan working with Indonesian partners
To help the people of Aceh and Nias hit by the unprecedented tsunami and earthquake, Japan has been mobilizing various forms of assistance since immediately after the disaster.
This assistance includes the dispatch of disaster relief medical teams, the dispatch of Japan Self-Defense Forces to support humanitarian relief efforts through medical and transportation activities, the disbursement of grant assistance worth US$146 million to the Indonesian government and grant contributions worth $250 million to international organizations for their activities in all countries affected by the tsunami, including Indonesia.
Japan is working hard to bring effective assistance to the affected people as soon as possible, while maintaining a high level of transparency and accountability.
As for the bilateral grant of worth $146 million, the government of Japan disbursed the funds in January to a bank account held by the government of Indonesia specifically established for this purpose. Since then, the Japanese government has been engaged in project preparations, together with its Indonesian partners. Although it naturally takes time to prepare projects while respecting the principles mentioned above, the Japanese government is well advanced even compared to other bilateral and multilateral donors.
In fact, it has been agreed by Indonesia and Japan to proceed with 13 projects, among which are supports for the provision of medicines, for improvements to the west coast road between Meulaboh and Calang, for water supply and sanitation in Banda Aceh, and for a Banda Aceh land title recovery operation. Calls for bidding and the contracting process have been engaged successively for each of these projects. We are pleased that many Indonesian companies are participating in the bidding.
In order to maximize the impact of its assistance, the Japanese government aims to support the overall strategy set by the Indonesian government, as well as to maintain close donor coordination.
Therefore, we have gone through an extremely complicated process with our Indonesian partners to prepare projects, due to the unprecedented magnitude and cross-sectoral nature of the damage, and also due to the scale and variety of assistance mobilized through different channels.
We are working in line with the Indonesian master plan for reconstruction developed through consultation with the local communities, and we are also in close contact with the Aceh Reconstruction Agency established at the end of April for strengthening coordination and for facilitating project implementation.
Highly aware of the need for transparency and accountability, and in order to support proper project preparation and procurement, the Indonesian government has contracted with the Japan International Cooperation System (JICS) as the procurement agent for this grant; the JICS will request the payment of fees based on the contract after each procurement procedure is completed. The role of the JICS is very much appreciated by our Indonesian partners, who recognize the importance of the correct handling of aid funds.
AYAKO SHIMIZU, Information and Culture Section, Embassy of Japan, Jakarta