Ministers to visit Aceh soon, Habibie in March

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie has ordered six ministers to visit Aceh on Monday and will himself visit the country's westernmost province in March in a bid to alleviate the negative impact of the military operations there, a senior minister said on Wednesday.

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty Alleviation Haryono Suyono said the President's visit is meant to accelerate efforts to restore social and political security there and to heal the psychological wounds caused by the locals' bitter experiences with the military operations between 1989 and 1998.

"Insya Allah (God willing) the President will visit Aceh some time in March," Haryono said after meeting with Habibie at Merdeka Palace along with five other ministers including Minister of Religious Affairs A. Malik Fadjar.

Led by Haryono, the six ministers will visit the oil refinery city of Lhokseumawe on Monday to find out what highly urgent measures are needed to rebuild the infrastructure and homes of victims of the military operations. The delegation would also learn what social and financial assistance is needed in the province, he said.

"The President has ordered us to take prompt action," Haryono noted.

In his nine-page report to Habibie, Haryono pointed out that 1,021 people have been killed, 864 remain missing and 1,376 have become widows, while 680 houses have been burned down since the Armed Forces (ABRI) declared Aceh a military operations territory (DOM) in 1989.

According to the report, there were 405 deaths in Pidie, 346 in North Aceh and 270 in East Aceh during the operations.

"The military operation... caused grievous suffering and other negative impacts on people's lives, as thousands of women were widowed, children orphaned, many were disabled, and many women raped," said Haryono.

The minister described how the Acehnese people enthusiastically welcomed ABRI Chief Gen. Wiranto's decision to lift the military operations last year. However, the recurrence of violence by the military had made people believe that the current government was the same as the previous repressive government of the New Order.

"The latest tragedy was in Idi Cut, East Aceh on Feb. 2 when 25 people went missing while on the next day 14... corpses were found in the Arikundoe River. There was a subsequent exodus of hundreds of villagers, creating more fear and suspicion of ABRI," Haryono noted.

The minister dismissed fears of a growing sentiment among the Acehnese to establish an independent state. He said the Free Aceh Movement was only a weak organization.

"The essential problem in the region is actually a prevailing sense of being victims of injustices in the national development program, including the poor distribution of natural resources and the behavior of certain central government officials and officers," the report said. (prb)