Rescuers bring a body out of rubble after earthquakes and subsequent tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi province in late September (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has pledged 1billion USD in emergency assistance fund to support Indonesia's reconstructionefforts in areas affected by earthquakes and subsequent tsunami in CentralSulawesi province.
The promise was made at a meeting between ADB President Takehiko Nakao andIndonesian President Joko Widodo on the sidelines of the annual meeting ofInternational Monetary Fund and the World Bank held in Bali on October 12.
The ADB emergency assistance fund consists of 500 million USD to supportthe Indonesian Government's emergency budget and 500 million USD to finance reconstructionof important infrastructure, such as water supply and sanitation, schools,roads and bridges, and electricity networks among others.
The emergency assistance fund is on top of the ADB's regular sovereignloan programme to Indonesia, which stands at an average of 2 billion USDannually.
The ADB's loans would be prepared in close coordination with thegovernment, affected communities, and other stakeholders, and submitted to theADB Board of Directors on a fast-track basis.
The loans would have special terms, with grace period of 8 years and arepayment period of 32 years, longer than usual. The ADB will also providetechnical assistance to support government-led damage needs assessments as wellas the recovery and reconstruction planning.
Besides the emergency assistance fund, the ADB has approved a 3 million USDof grant to support immediate relief efforts in Indonesia's Central Sulawesiprovince.
Suwelasi was ravaged by two quakes measuring 6.1 and 7.5 on the Richterscale on September 28. A subsequent tsunami rose after the second quake,hitting the area sometime later in the afternoon.
According to Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), asof 13:00 on October 11, the powerful earthquakes and tsunami had left 2,073people dead, 10,679 injured, and 680 missing. A total of 78,994 people wereevacuated to 112 safe locations in Central Sulawesi, while 8,731 were moved offthe island altogether.
Indonesia is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions andtsunamis because of its location on the "Ring of Fire", an arc ofvolcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
A series of earthquakes in July and August killed nearly 500 people onthe holiday island of Lombok, hundreds of kilometres southwest of Sulawesi.
In 2004, a substantial earthquake off the northern Indonesian island ofSumatra triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean, killing 220,000 people in13 countries, including more than 168,000 in Indonesia.–VNA
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