Megawati to make first visit to Poso

Megawati to make first visit to Poso

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri will visit the Central Sulawesi
regency of Poso next week, her first trip to the area since it
was darkened by three years of religious violence which claimed
thousands of lives, officials said on Friday.

The one-day visit is scheduled for next Wednesday, but
Megawati's main agenda is to lead a ceremony to celebrate this
year's National Social Solidarity Day (HKSN) in Poso.

Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah confirmed
Megawati's planned visit, saying she would meet briefly with
victims of the violence.

"The President will take a look at houses (of the victims),
which have already been rebuilt in Poso," the Antara news agency
quoted Bachtiar as saying after meeting the President at the
State Palace in Jakarta.

Bachtiar said the government had rebuilt 10,000 of around
15,000 houses destroyed in the fighting between Muslims and
Christians since 2000.

Each family affected by the violence would also received Rp
8.75 million in compensation from the government, he added.

During the visit, Megawati would sign a peace inscription in
the hope that the bloodshed was brought to a complete halt
following the peace accord between leaders of the warring
factions, Bachtiar said.

He said the President would also donate 500 volley balls and
another 500 footballs for students and youths once involved in
the fighting.

Burhanuddin Maragau, spokesman for the Poso administration,
said Megawati would also present humanitarian assistance to 1,000
victims of the violence during the HKSN celebration.

The head of state would continue on with her trip to other
provinces in the eastern parts of Indonesia, he told Antara.

Vice President Hamzah Haz has said earlier that he would visit
Poso after performing the Islamic Haj pilgrimage in Mecca in mid-
February.

Megawati's planned visit to Poso comes more than one year
after the warring factions signed a truce on Dec. 19, 2001, in
the hill resort of Malino, South Sulawesi.

The peace agreement has significantly reduced the violence
that has claimed about 2000 lives and forced thousands of others
to flee. However, sporadic violence still erupts.

Furthermore, Bachtiar said his office would not provide a
special allocation of funds for Megawati's visit to Poso, as a
number of businesspeople, including The Nin King, would be among
those joining the trip.