USAID pledges more aid for Indonesia
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)