Maluku needs Rp 4.4 trillion

JAKARTA: Maluku province needs a staggering Rp 4.4 trillion (US$550 million) to fund post-conflict rehabilitation programs in the formerly riot-torn province, a top official has said.

Emerging from a meeting with Vice President Hamzah Haz here on Wednesday, Maluku governor Albert Karel Rahalalu said that the funds would mainly be used to rebuild destroyed school buildings and government offices and to handle the refugee problem.

Albert said that the amount was beyond the means of the Maluku provincial administration.

He said that the administration only collected Rp 20 billion (US$2.5 million) per year from taxes, retributions and other sources of income.

"The income is still far below the estimated Rp 4.4 trillion needed to fund the post-conflict rehabilitation programs," he said.

Thus, in the meeting with Hamzah, Albert expressed hope that the central government could contribute the remaining funds needed to fund the programs.

Hamzah said that he would consider the request before conveying it to the budget committee of the House of Representatives (DPR).

Sectarian conflict in Maluku and the surrounding islands ended last year when the warring parties agreed to bury the hatchet, through a government-facilitated peace accord in Malino.

Sporadic conflict, however, continued until September this year, when the central government finally lifted up civil emergency status in the province.

Thousands of Muslims and Christians were killed during the sectarian conflict and thousands of others forced to take refugee on other islands in the country. -- Antara