Kuwait, UAE give $50m to RI

Kuwait, UAE give $50m to RI

PALU, Central Sulawesi: Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have given Indonesia a total of US$50 million in aid to develop resettlement areas for victims of ethnic and religious violence in several parts of the country, a minister said on Friday.

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said the assistance would be used to help finance the resettlement of those victims.

"The aid is a grant for Indonesians," he said during his visit to the resettlement area in Sidera, which is about 17 kilometers south of the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu.

Jacob said the assistance from the Kuwaiti government would be used to build at least 50 houses, places of worship and other supporting facilities for refugees who fled sectarian fighting in the province's town of Poso.

The grant from the United Arab Emirates would be given to people in the West Java city of Cirebon and those in the troubled province of Aceh. The minister did not elaborate further. --Antara