Ministers told to settle refugee problems

Ministers told to settle refugee problems

JAKARTA (JP): Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri has
ordered all related ministers to quickly settle all refugee
problems in the country within one month and to provide clear
standard procedures to handle them.

Vice presidential secretary Bambang Kesowo told reporters
after a meeting of the National Disaster Management Coordination
Board on Friday that Megawati asked for a reorganization of the
board as the country has to deal with thousands of refugees.

"The Vice President said the government needs a standard
mechanism to deal with refugee and disaster problems as the
country is prone to natural and other kinds of disasters,"
Bambang said in the media conference, accompanied by Minister of
Home Affairs and Regional Autonomy Surjadi Soedirdja.

He said Megawati asked for a full report on standard
procedures for the central and regional government to handle
disasters and refugees within one month.

"The full report should consist of a job description and
outline the responsibility of each state department to avoid lack
of coordination between them, even over funding management when
disaster strikes," he said.

Besides Surjadi, the meeting was attended by Coordinating
Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesian Military (TNI) Chief Adm. Widodo
A.S., Minister of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure Erna
Witoelar.

It was reported last year that the country had to deal with
765,071 refugees from the strife-torn areas of the former East
Timor province, Maluku, North Maluku, West Kalimantan and Aceh.

Meanwhile, the recent communal clashes in the Central
Kalimantan towns of Sampit and Palangkaraya have added to the
number of the refugees who needed help.

Surjadi said the refugee problem was initially handled by the
coordinating ministry of poverty eradication and social welfare
before it was dissolved by President Abdurrahman Wahid last year.

"So, with the new organization, which is under the direct
supervision of the Vice President, we should renew and improve
the mechanism to handle them (refugees and disaster)," he said.
(dja)