Tsunami, quake victims get help from Greece

The Jakarta Post, Medan

The Greek government donated on Sunday nine million euros (US$10.8 million) for tsunami and earthquake victims in Aceh and Nias island, North Sumatra.

The donation was distributed by Solidarity, a Greek non- governmental organization that provides humanitarian and development aid worldwide. The donation came in the form of food aid worth eight million euros and another one million euros to assist in the reconstruction phase in Aceh and Nias.

The group's program coordinator, Father Ignatios Giapit Zioglov, said the food aid was handed over to the Indonesian Red Cross in North Sumatra. Four million euros worth of food aid was presented three months ago, while an additional four million euros of the aid was delivered on Sunday.

"The relief aid is donated by the Greek people. It was raised to assist disaster victims in Indonesia. We think of the Indonesian people who suffered in these disasters as our brothers who are in need of our assistance," Father Ignatios told The Jakarta Post after handing over the relief aid to the Indonesian Red Cross.

He said that apart from delivering food aid, Solidarity had also provided another one million euros to assist in the reconstruction of facilities destroyed when a tsunami struck Aceh in December and an earthquake hit Nias in March.

The assistance, he said, would mainly be used to build schools, hospitals and houses for the survivors.

The chairman for the Indonesian Red Cross in North Sumatra, Kasim Siyo, said most of the relief aid already had been distributed to tsunami victims in Aceh.

"Most of the relief aid that we received (three months ago) has been channeled to Aceh and we will distribute this second donation to Aceh and Nias," he said.