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Situation
in Maluku improved: Senior minister
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The
Jakarta Post
April
29, 2003
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Situation in Maluku improved:
Senior minister
AMBON, Maluku (JP): The Indonesian
government hopes to resettle back in Maluku this year the hundreds
of thousands of people displaced in the sectarian conflict in the
eastern Indonesian province as the situation is now conducive for
their return, a senior minister has said.
"I am optimistic that the
issue on the displaced Maluku people will be settled by the end of
2003. In 2004, we will be set to empower them," Coordinating
Minister for People's Welfare Yusuf Kalla was quoted as saying by Antara
here on Tuesday.
Yusuf said no significant problems
had been encountered in recent efforts to settle the issue in
Maluku, as the local people have accepted the return of those who
fled the province at the height of the clashes between Muslims and
Christians in recent years.
He admitted that previous efforts
to deal with the issue had met a lot of problems, as the situation
then was still unstable. As such, the displaced people were scared
to return and the local people were not ready to accept them due
to limited funds from the government, he said.
"However, the situation at
present has improved," he added.
Yusuf pointed out that the central
government had allocated no less than Rp 100 billion in 2003 to
finance the construction of houses for the returnees, as well as
hundreds of billions of rupiah for the setting up of social
facilities in the province. "The Rp100 billion fund for the
construction of houses for the returnees will be disbursed in
May," he disclosed.
He further said that the government
had also begun inviting investors to return to Maluku in an effort
to normalize its economy.
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