The Jakarta Post, December 01, 2003
Rehabilitation funds to be disbursed in Maluku provinces
M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon, Maluku
The central government has proposed to the House of Representatives (DPR) that
Maluku province receive Rp 1 trillion (US$118 million) to rebuild after years of religious
violence, a government official said.
Maluku Deputy Governor Memet Latuconsina said the proposal was made to the
House's budget committee by Kwik Kian Gie, the state minister for national
development planning, in a letter dated Oct. 24.
"In the letter, the minister also proposed to the DPR that it endorse another
government proposal to provide Rp 665 billion fund for rebuilding in North Maluku
province," Memet said.
The proposals were made in response to requests by the governors of Maluku and
North Maluku for Rp 4.4 trillion and Rp 2.2 trillion, respectively, to rebuild their
provinces.
However, the proposal by Kwik Kian Gie indicates the two provinces will receive much
less than they are requesting.
Memet said the House was discussing the matter with government officials, and a
decision was expected soon.
Maluku and North Maluku are in need of rebuilding after years of sectarian violence
that left thousands of people dead and forced hundreds of thousands of others to flee
the provinces.
Much of the provinces' infrastructure also was damaged in the violence, which began
in 1999.
The conflict, which has subsided recently, left many Maluku and North Maluku
residents traumatized, while many more were left without jobs.
Memet said money from the central government would be used to finance social and
physical rehabilitation projects in the two provinces for the 2004 to 2006 fiscal years.
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