Rp 100 billion allocated for rehabilitation program in Aceh
JAKARTA (JP): At least Rp 100 billion has been allocated by the Aceh provincial administration for a rehabilitation program during the humanitarian pause in the strife-torn territory.
Spokesman for the Aceh administration Teuku Pribadi said on Saturday that the rehabilitation program would replace development projects funded by the state and provincial budgets.
"We have revised the projects and reallocated funds for the more urgent humanitarian pause," Teuku told Antara on Saturday.
He said the fund was expected to increase because at least 50 percent from the provincial budget of Rp 250 billion for this fiscal year was to be reallocated to the rehabilitation program. Approval from Jakarta is needed, he said, because some of the money comes from the central government.
The rehabilitation program will cover cultivation of foodstuff, education, health, housing and resettlement.
Pribadi said the programs should start immediately as the humanitarian pause would end in 45 days.
The joint understanding on a three-month humanitarian pause was signed by representatives of the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on May 12. After an evaluation, it could be extended for another three months.
The objectives of the pause include delivery of humanitarian assistance to Acehnese affected by the conflict and the provision of security modalities to support relief operations and reduce overall tension.
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty Eradication Basri Hasanuddin requested the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) on Friday to organize international aid for Aceh.
Without unveiling the sum of aid commitment, UNDP representative in Indonesia Ravi Rajan told Basri that a number of countries wish to help the Acehnese.
Basri and his entourage, along with UNDP project officers, will fly to Aceh on July 14 to hand the aid over to the Acehnese to rebuild the province's infrastructure.
Abduction
Despite the implementation of the humanitarian pause, arrest and abduction cases remain rampant.
Some 70 women from the Meurah Mulia district in North Aceh took to the streets in the regency capital of Lhokseumawe on Friday to protest what they called the arbitrary arrest of three neighbors.
"They're not (members of) GAM so why arrest them!" Aisyah Amin cried in front of the North Aceh Police Headquarters.
M. Daud Jalil, 45, Abdullah Usman, 38, and Muliadi Cut Ali, 27, were nabbed by patrolling police on Thursday.
Head of the North Aceh Police Supt. Syafei Aksal said the three men were apprehended for running from security officers and for possessing a pair of handcuffs.
Meanwhile in Banda Aceh, 22 people, mostly women, protested at the headquarters of the Joint Committee for the Humanitarian Pause at the Kuala Tripa Hotel, demanding the whereabouts of missing relatives allegedly kidnapped by disputing parties.
The Indonesian representative in the joint committee, Col. Sulaiman AB, told the protesters that the committee would help find the missing people.
The Aceh Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and Banda Aceh Legal Aid Institute (LBH) announced 37 people had been abducted since the humanitarian pause was signed. The majority of cases, numbering 27, were conducted by security personnel. (09/10/49)