U.S. donates 3,000 tons of milk

U.S. donates 3,000 tons of milk

JAKARTA: The United States donated 3,000 tons of milk powder, worth US$3.7 million, to Indonesia on Friday as part of its food aid commitment to meet children's nutritional needs.

Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce said the milk would be used for two separate programs aimed at providing milk by-products for babies of low-income families in several towns in Java.

About 90 percent of the milk would be used to produce 10.8 million cans of sweetened condensed milk, to be distributed to the lowest-income groups under a national milk program.

One million cans will be distributed free to the most needy families with children, while the remaining 9.8 million will be sold at a subsidized price of Rp 1,000 (around 12 U.S. cents) each.

Three hundred tons of the milk powder will be used for the sterilized bottled milk program.

The milk powder will be used to produce three million cans of sterilized milk and will be distributed to low-income families with babies over two years of age. --Antara