Taufik Kiemas donates Rp 250m for the disabled in North Sumatra
Taufik Kiemas donates Rp 250m for the disabled in North Sumatra
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post , Medan
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's husband Taufik Kiemas donated
Rp 250 million on Saturday to a fund for a disabled children's
foundation in Medan, North Sumatra.
Taufik, when presenting the donation, said the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) would also provide
Rp 100 million more as well as musical instruments to the
Foundation for Handicapped Children (YPAC).
He was accompanied by Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana
Sukardi and other PDI Perjuangan leaders during his brief visit
to Medan to present the donation to YPAC chairperson Linda Adi.
North Sumatra Governor T. Rizal Nurdin and Medan Mayor
Abdillah were present at the function held at the foundation's
office.
The fund would be used to finance the planned renovation of
the YPAC building located on Jl. Adinegoro, Medan, which is
expected to cost Rp 140 million.
Linda said the foundation had so far collected around Rp 100
million from individuals and organizations to renovate the
building.
The donation came several days after Governor Rizal urged the
provincial police last week to thoroughly investigate the
misappropriation of food and clothing assistance for the
disabled, including that for YPAC.
Around 30 percent of the 510 aid packages provided by Japan's
Organization for Industrial Spiritual and Cultural Advancement
(OISCA) reportedly went missing on Nov. 14.
"This act is not only a common case of theft, but it has also
brought shame to the nation. Therefore, I ask the police to
thoroughly investigate the case," Rizal said.
He expressed concern over the misappropriation as he was one
of those who directly witnessed how the aid packages were
tampered with.
Rizal was leading a ceremony on Nov. 14 to hand over the
OISCA's aid packages to the YPAC office. But when he tried to
symbolically open some of the packages, surprisingly they were
all empty.
He said he was embarrassed by what happened during the
ceremony, where OISCA managing director Michiyasu Arayashiki and
its North Sumatra representative Yopie Batubara were present.
Yopie admitted that he had detected that the packages had been
tampered with when they were delivered on Nov. 9.
"We suspect the theft was committed by certain persons at the
customs office or the cargo shipping company in Belawan district
(North Sumatra)," Yopie told The Jakarta Post.
In a response to Rizal's call, the North Sumatra Police have
questioned at least nine people from the local customs office and
the shipping firm as well as other relevant agencies.
However, they said no suspects had been named in the case.