Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said Saturday that the government had approved third stage funds amounting to Rp 2.74 trillion (US$288.82 million) for the reconstruction of houses and other buildings damaged in Yogyakarta and Central Java by the May 27 earthquake last year, writes Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta, National News - February 26, 2007 at http://www.thejakartapost.com/.
Forwarded by Budhi Mulyawan 270207.

Speaking at the inauguration of Coordinating Minister for the Economy Boediono as a professor at the School of Economics at Yogyakarta's Gajah Mada University, Mulyani said that Rp 1.7 trillion of the money would be for reconstruction in Yogyakarta, while Rp 1.02 trillion would go to Central Java.

"The funds have already been gathered by the Finance Ministry and will soon be channeled through the banks," Mulyani said.

The minister said the manner in which the funds would be released depended on the policies of the respective regional administrations.

"The use of the reconstruction fund is fully entrusted to the regional administrations," she said.

Alex Samsuri, a spokesman for the Yogyakarta provincial administration, said that the money would be used to provide assistance to quake victims who not received funding during the first or second stage disbursements.

He said that some communities had missed the first two rounds of money. Community groups consisting of less than 10 members were entitled to Rp 15 million in assistance, but only eight such groups had received any money so far.

"The reconstruction funds for the third stage will be focused mainly on those who have not received any assistance in the first and second stages," he said, adding that this was why the Yogyakarta administration was yet to allocate money to specific regencies and municipalities.

"We haven't decided yet on the allocations for each regency or municipality because the quantity of the funds will not be set merely in line with the existing regions but also by the number of victims per community group," Alex said.

He said that the release of reconstruction funds had been by delayed by the lengthy process required to verify damage to houses. Residents whose houses were severely damaged and who are in urgent need of new homes will receive the bulk of the money.

The possibility of a new policy on the release of reconstruction funds also delayed the decision to set limits on the amount of money given to each regency or municipality.

Owners of houses that were lightly damaged, for example, will also be given assistance under the third disbursement.

"The new list proposed to the central government (of people) to be given reconstruction funds reached 206,000, but after being verified, only 160,000 are actually eligible for the assistance," Alex added.

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