More donations pour in for tsunami victims in RI

More donations pour in for tsunami victims in RI

Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

More countries, and people across the globe, continued to donate
cash, food, clothes and medicines to the tsunami victims in Aceh
and North Sumatra provinces and other countries.

The British public alone have raised more than US$115 million,
much higher than their government's $96 million grant, the
British Embassy in Jakarta said in a press release sent to The
Jakarta Post on Monday.

The British government will pay for the cost of transporting
all relief supplies raised from the money the British public have
donated, the Embassy said.

"We will pay the cost of transporting relief supplies raised
from the money that the British public have very generously
donated, whether from the UK or elsewhere in the world, to get to
the region," British secretary of state for international
development Hilary Benn said in the press release.

The first Royal Air Force (RAF) planes arrived in Banda Aceh
on Sunday to deliver the materials to establish the UN
operational headquarters there. Britain has also provided two
helicopters to assist with food distribution in Aceh and North
Sumatra, the release said.

The Swedish government and Swedish citizens have so far
donated around $125 million -- $75 million from the government
and $50 million from the public -- to tsunami victims in
Indonesia and other countries, the Swedish Embassy said in a
press release sent to the Post on Monday.

"A major part of the Swedish funds will be directed toward
Indonesia, the country most affected by the tsunami," the release
said.

The Swedish government said on Monday that more than 3,000
Swedes are still missing, mostly in Thailand. Sixty Swedish
citizens have been confirmed dead.

Aceh and North Sumatra were the worst-hit areas, where more
than 94,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands made
homeless.

France, which has pledged to donate $60 million to all the
affected countries, handed over $2 million to Indonesia as
bilateral assistance, the French Embassy said in a statement.

Besides money, France has sent a civil protection team, 19
tons of emergency humanitarian aid, and a field hospital with 72
doctors and paramedics, to Aceh and North Sumatra.

French naval ships Jeanne d'Arc and Frigette Georges Leygues
are on their way to Indonesia, the statement said.

The Algerian Embassy in Jakarta announced on Monday that
Algeria has donated $2 million through the United Nations to meet
emergency needs of victims in Indonesia and other affected
countries.

Tunisia has sent two Hercules aircraft loaded with tents,
medical supplies and food to Aceh and North Sumatra, the Tunisian
Embassy said on Monday in a press release.

Jordan has sent a field hospital along with a medical team and
23 tons of humanitarian aid to Indonesia, the Jordanian Embassy
informed the Post through a press release on Monday.

The Egyptian Embassy said in a press release that its
government has dispatched a medical team to Indonesia and the
Egyptian Red Crescent Association pledged to supply medicines
worth of 500,000 Egyptian pounds to the affected Asian countries,
including Indonesia.

Egyptian Embassy staff have donated a truck load of food and
clothes to Indonesian victims.

The Turkish Ambassador, Mrs Feryal Cotur Onder, Mrs Stela
Savuica and Mrs Monica Sette Camara -- the wives of the Romanian
Ambassador and the Brazilian Ambassador to Indonesia respectively
-- took the initiative in their personal capacity to collect
food, water and clothes from the members of the diplomatic
community in Jakarta for the tsunami victims in Aceh and North
Sumatra.

These women have already donated 500 food boxes and 3,000
bottles to the Indonesia Red Cross.

Meanwhile, the Slovak media has reported that Slovakia has
pledged to donate $230,000 to the tsunami victims in Indonesia
and other countries.

The African Union has donated US$100,000 to tsunami-affected
countries, including Indonesia.

Beslan, a small town in Russia that was devastated by a major
terrorist attack, has decided to donate one million rubles
(around $37,000) to tsunami victims from its global donations
fund, RIA Novosti Russian news agency said.

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin on Sunday doubled Canada's
financial contribution from C$40 million to C$80 million to
tsunami victims in Asia, the Canadian Embassy said in press
release.