Social body gives Rp 976m donation
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)