Poor Jakartans get aid from Malaysia

JAKARTA (JP): The Malaysian government on Tuesday donated foodstuffs for 74,900 poor Jakartans in an expression of solidarity between the neighboring countries.

The donation of 749,050 kilograms of rice, 11,580 bottles of cooking oil and 10,000 kilograms of sugar was symbolically handed over by Malaysian Ambassador Zainal Abidin to the city's five mayors in a ceremony at City Hall.

The ceremony was also attended by State Minister of Food, Drugs and Horticulture A.M. Saefuddin, Minister of Trade and Industry Rahardi Ramelan and Governor Sutiyoso.

In a short speech, Ambassador Abidin said that, "the government and people of Malaysia are sympathetic to our brothers and sisters in Indonesia who are being affected by the present economic crisis."

The donated goods will provide 10 kilograms of rice, a quarter of a bottle of cooking oil and a quarter of a kilogram of sugar to each of the 74,900 recipients.

According to Sutiyoso, the city administration had often received donated foodstuffs since the current economic crisis hit the country.

"But the present donation (from the Malaysian government) is special to Jakartans because it is given during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadhan," the governor added.

The assistant city secretary of Social Welfare Affairs, Zaenal Arifin, said that the foodstuffs would be distributed to people living in slum areas throughout the city. (ind)