Mega visit devastated earthquake-hit Nabire
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri visited victims of a major earthquake in the Papua regency of Nabire on Thursday, almost one month after the disaster rocked the remote town, claiming dozens of lives.
For around one hour, Megawati met and spoke with the victims at the local legislative council building.
She also visited the remains of Bhakti Mandala elementary school and spent a moment with the students, who were studying in a tent that had been erected as an emergency shelter.
An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale hit Nabire on Feb. 6, wrecking many buildings in the regency and leaving thousands of people homeless.
Some 37 people were killed and 82 others were injured in the quake, which was declared a national disaster.
The government has allocated some Rp 100 billion (US$117.6million) in reconstruction funds, particularly to rebuild public facilities there.
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, who accompanied Megawati on the visit, said that reconstruction would begin next month.
Megawati's entourage also included Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno, State Minister for the Acceleration of Development in Eastern Indonesia Manuel Kaisiepo and Papua Governor JP Salossa.
Megawati is on a tour across the country, just one week before the campaign period for the general election which starts on March 11. The general election falls on April 5.
The President is on the list of campaigners for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) which she leads and poised to win the unprecedented direct presidential election scheduled for July 5.
Later in the day, in her capacity as PDI-P chairwoman Megawati inaugurated the party's branch office in the Papua capital of Jayapura, some 600 kilometers east of Nabire.
In her speech, she urged the party's members to work hard to win the upcoming elections.
It has been common practice over the last few decades for state officials, who also hold key party positions, to take advantage of their official trips and state facilities to meet their constituents.
Megawati and her entourage returned to Jakarta late on Thursday.
On Friday, the President is slated to visit the West Java towns of Cirebon, Sumedang and Bandung and will proceed to the Central Java towns of Demak and Sukoharjo the next day.
A one-day trip to the war-torn province of Aceh will be her agenda on Sunday, where she is slated to inaugurate a number of development projects.
She will continue her trip to other major towns Lampung, Palembang and Pekanbaru, all in Sumatra, on Monday.