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.