USAID pledges more aid for Indonesia
JAKARTA (JP): The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced yesterday it would give an additional US$50 million in aid in the form of food and loan guarantees to help crisis-worn Indonesia.
USAID administrator J. Brian Atwood told a public forum here yesterday the agency would spend $25 million, in addition to $25 million pledged earlier, to provide Indonesia with 50,000 metric tons of American rice.
The rice is to be distributed to over half a million poor people living in urban areas, Atwood said.
"The first shipments of food will arrive within two weeks and will head for East Timor, East Nusa Tenggara and South Sumatra."
The agency will also provide an additional $25 million in loan guarantees to support the construction of urban environmental infrastructure, such as drinking water services, drainage canals, footpaths and garbage collection and disposal, he said.
Such projects will generate 1.4 million temporary jobs in the country's poor urban neighborhoods, he said.
So far, USAID has allocated over $100 million in humanitarian assistance, including $16.6 million for public health and family planning services in 11 provinces and $10 million in medical supplies and equipment for maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS and family planning programs.
It has also provided $25 million in concessional loans to buy rice and other food, and $26 million in technical expertise for the government.
Today, the agency is scheduled to sign an agreement with the National Development Planning Board to provide it with $5.6 million in technical assistance for economic reform.
Politics
Atwood, who was here on a three day visit from Wednesday, also denied reports that USAID had financed antigovernment campaigns.
He noted that USAID only gave funds to legal organizations to help them pursue their organizational goals.
"We have not provided funds to (Adnan) Buyung Nasution or any other individuals. (Our funds go) only to organizations which are legally registered in Indonesia," Atwood said, referring to one of the political figures who helped lead the downfall of ex- president Soeharto.
"Some of these groups opposed government policies, but not because we suggested they do so," he said.
Several student groups and legislators in the past several weeks have accused the U.S. of meddling in Indonesia's political affairs by financially supporting antigovernment activities here.
Last week, a group of 89 legislators wrote a letter to U.S. President Bill Clinton, demanding he ensure that American aid would not be used to finance activities that would interfere in the country's domestic affairs.
The letter cited a May 21 report in the New York Times and International Herald Tribune which indicated that government opponents in the country had used U.S. aid to conduct antigovernment activities.
Atwood pledged that USAID's support for Indonesia's development would be in an open and transparent manner.
He said the agency "carefully tracked the aid".
Atwood also met yesterday with President Habibie and several of the country's reform figures, including Emil Salim, Adnan Buyung and Abdurrahman Wahid, as well as a group of legislators. (das)