Wolfowitz has high hopes for Aceh
Wolfowitz has high hopes for Aceh
Riyadi Suparno, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh
Visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz is still very much linked to Indonesia, as made evident at a press conference here on Saturday when he expressed hope that the tsunami catastrophe would unite the country, and spoke a few sentences in Bahasa Indonesia.
Speaking at the Indonesian Air Force base here, Wolfowitz said the government's quick and massive response to the disaster, particularly in the relief operation, should open an opportunity for the Acehnese "to find that their government, the Indonesian government, is concerned about their welfare."
Nevertheless, it would all depend on whether the government succeeds in its relief operation to cater for the emergency needs of the people, as well as in the future reconstruction of the province.
In addition, Wolfowitz said, the outpouring of help from people from other parts of Indonesia should help the Acehnese to eventually feel more comfortable to be part of Indonesia.
"I am struck by (the words of) several Indonesian friends I talked to on the phone over the last week, saying that the outpouring of sympathy from Jakarta and the rest of Indonesia is unprecedented, and I hope that with the success of this relief and reconstruction, there can be a similar feeling from the Acehnese people that it's good to be part of Indonesia," Wolfowitz told foreign and local journalists.
Accompanied by Indonesian Military Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, Wolfowitz appeared relaxed during the press conference. When a local journalist asked his permission to raise a question in Bahasa Indonesia, the deputy secretary responded in Bahasa Indonesia: "Saya sudah banyak lupa" (I have forgotten it a lot) and asked the journalist to speak pelan-pelan (slowly).
The journalist asked if the U.S. government was prepared to give debt relief to the Indonesian government for humanitarian reasons following the disaster. Responding to the question, Wolfowitz said: "Life isn't that simple unfortunately."
He noted that the U.S. government had spent quite a lot of money to help the relief operation and had committed a large amount of money totaling more than US$350 million for the whole emergency operation in the region, the bulk of which would go to Indonesia.
"Frankly speaking, we have been doing a lot and are certainly looking to do more," he said.
Nevertheless, he warned that the U.S. presence, including its military forces, in Aceh would not be there for long.
Therefore, he hoped that the government would meet its three- month deadline for ending the role of foreign military forces in Aceh.
As the press conference wound up, Wolfowitz expressed his confidence that, despite the disaster, there would continue to be optimism for the future. He related this to the fact that mosques, which are so instrumental in the life of the Acehnese, are still standing amid the rubble of buildings in devastated Aceh.
"Maybe that's a good sign for the future," he said.