Social body gives Rp 976m donation
JAKARTA (JP): The newly-established Indonesian Committee for Humanity marked its inaugural day on Saturday by handing over a donation worth over Rp 976 million (US$134,620) to Jakarta's needy people and social institutions badly hit by the economic crisis.
The organization's chairman, former finance minister Mar'ie Muhammad, said the donation was collected from both foreign and local businessmen to help those in need.
"The donation is for the needy, without discrimination for race, tribal affiliation and religion," Mar'ie said after the organization's launch at a ceremony in the densely-populated Kapuk subdistrict of Cengkareng in West Jakarta.
The donation consisted of Rp 293 million in working capital made available to 515 small-scale businesses; Rp 379 million to feed 4,229 under-five children; funds for 197 nursery homes and 16 religious groups; the construction of three public toilets; renovation of 10 roads; and Rp 304 million to provide scholarships to 881 elementary school students, 259 junior high school students, 54 senior high school students and 62 teachers, he said.
"I hope the working capital will help the (small-scale) businessman become stronger and create more job opportunities," he said at the ceremony, which was attended by social services minister Yustika S. Baharsyah.
The organization also donated 50,000 staple food packages each containing 5 kilograms of rice, one kilogram of salted fish and one bottle of soya sauce, Mar'ie said.
Mar'ie said Kapuk subdistrict had been chosen as a pilot project site because of the complexity of social and economic problems dogging the area.
He said the area had been badly designed and had inadequate public facilities.
West Jakarta Mayor Sarimun said Kapuk subdistrict has 52,939 permanent residents and 69,802 temporary residents.
"Half of the permanent residents are Chinese-Indonesians," he added.
It was not clear whether Chinese-Indonesians were among those who received donations.
Some residents who did receive food packages complained about the length of time they had to wait before receiving their handouts. (41/jun)