Rp 825b in humanitarian aid for Aceh held up: Governor

Rp 825b in humanitarian aid for Aceh held up: Governor

JAKARTA (JP): Aceh Governor Ramli Ridwan said on Tuesday his
people were reaping little benefit from a cease-fire between
separatist rebels and security forces, and urged an extension of
the accord.

Speaking to journalist after meeting with President
Abdurrahman Wahid here, Ramli said local authorities had been
unable to implement the three-month truce agreement properly
because they had not received any of the allotted Rp 825 billion
earmarked for humanitarian assistance.

The disbursement of aid was one of the items agreed to in the
three-month cease-fire deal signed in Geneva in May, and which
took effect on June 2. Some of the aid was to go to villagers
displaced by fighting.

"The humanitarian pause has not been felt by the Acehnese,"
Ramli said.

"We hope for an extension of (the cease-fire)," he added. "As
of now, the Rp 825 billion in humanitarian aid has not been
cleared."

Ramli did not say where the funds were meant to come from or
why they had been held up. A number of foreign countries promised
to provide Indonesia with funds for Aceh as part of the cease-
fire.

Despite the agreement, violence still haunts the province of
four million people, although there appears to have been fewer
clashes between Free Aceh Movement rebels and military troops and
police officers.

Support for independence in Aceh has been fueled by years of
alleged human rights violations by the police and military, and
resentment over what is seen as Jakarta's siphoning off of wealth
from the area's natural resources.

Ramli said the President might visit Aceh after August.
Abdurrahman, who must appear before the People's Consultative
Assembly next month to account for his first turbulent year in
office, has postponed other proposed trips to Aceh, although he
did visit the tiny and peaceful island of Sabang off the
northwest coast of the province.

In Aceh, unidentified gunmen blasted two oil tanks in the
depot of PT Aromatic, a subsidiary of the Humpuss Group, in the
early hours of Tuesday morning.

North Aceh Police chief Supt. Syafei Aksal said the first
explosion took place at approximately 5 a.m. local time at the
oil depot in Rancong village, and was followed by a second blast
about five minutes later. There were no casualties in the
incident.

"The sound of the explosions could be heard two kilometers
away and witnesses said the flames reached up to 80 meters high,"
Syafei said, adding that police had not yet identified the
attackers.

This was the second such incident at the PT Aromatic compound,
with the first attack taking place last month.

The location of the blasts is a kilometer away from PT Arun,
the company that produces liquefied natural gas from a natural
gas field operated by Exxon-Oil.

Suspected Free Aceh Movement rebels launched attacks in April
and May on a number of Exxon-Oil's facilities, including its
airport, forcing the company to temporarily suspend some of its
gas and oil drilling activities.

Meanwhile, at least 11,000 refugees from 22 villages in Kluet
Selatan district in South Aceh have been gathering at mosques and
schools in the Rasian area since Monday.

The acting South Aceh Police chief, Asst. Supt. Supriadi
Djalal, said the residents fled their villages following threats
of arson attacks by an unidentified group.

Locals, however, claimed they were terrified by the sweeping
operations carried out by security forces to quash rebel activity
in the area. (50/edt/byg)