Siswono's daughter dies

JAKARTA (JP): The daughter of the Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo died in Jerusalem yesterday at 2 a.m., local time, after being treated for thalassemia.

Emeralda, 11, left Jakarta with her mother, Mrs. Ratih Yudohusodo on March 30 for treatment at the Hadasah hospital.

Emeralda was diagnosed four years ago as suffering from thalassemia.

Titut Pusponegoro, an older sister of Siswono, confirmed that Emeralda underwent a bone marrow transplant in April.

Another relative said Siswono left on Wednesday for Jerusalem, where a number of family members were already gathered.

"It seems that Emeralda was waiting for her father," the relative told The Jakarta Post by telephone.

The body of Emeralda, the third of four children, will be brought back to the Siswono's home on Jl. Abdul Madjig 48, in Cipete, South Jakarta, and is expected to arrive tomorrow morning.

Emeralda, a fifth grader of the Tarakanita elementary school on Jl. Monginsidi, South Jakarta, will be buried at either the nearby Jeruk Purut or at the Tanah Kusir cemetery, the relative said.

Before leaving for Jerusalem, Emeralda, known to be "a bright child," could study normally, except at times when her hemoglobin level dropped.

She would have turned 11 years old on July 25.

Thalassemia is a hereditary disease which affects red blood cells, known to afflict three to eight percent of the population here. (anr)