Presidential priorities

North Sumatra, Bengkulu, East Java, Central Java, Aceh, Jambi, Banten - these are only some of Indonesia's disaster-struck provinces. Australia, Mecca, Singapore and Cairo again, Nigeria, Brazil, Yemen, - these are a few of the recent or planned travel destinations of the presidential party.

While the Minister of Health and Social Welfare laments the government's financial inability to meet the needs of the 1.2 million victims of the year's natural disasters, the presidential entourage travels on. Can any "watchdog" group say exactly how many days the president has been overseas on tour since his inauguration sixteen months ago; and the average number of non- essential persons who are included, at government expense, in each trip; and the total cost to the country for all these trips?

Better yet, tell this to the victims of the floods and earthquakes and mudslides. Explain to them why the government has so much money for dubious diplomatic junkets, and so little for them.

DONNA K. WOODWARD

Medan, North Sumatra