A
compensation payment amounting to some Rp 8.75 billion, which was sent by the
Dutch government to residents of Rawagede village in West Java, will take a
some time before reaching its intended recipients as the funds are currently
stuck in limbo at the Dutch Embassy, the Home Ministry says.
“The money
is still at the embassy. The ministry is not yet able to distribute it because
the grant must be accepted and recorded in the national state budget,” Home
Ministry Information Center chief Reydonny Zarmoenek said Friday as quoted by
tempointeraktif.com.
He
explained that the embassy had wanted to send the grant straight to the
regional administration. However, the administration declined, as the law
clearly states that grants between countries must first go through the central
government.
According
to Reydonny, the embassy initially targeted to disburse the funds by December
31. “But since the dialogue, the disbursement schedule was extended to May 31
next year,” Reydonny said.
He added
that the funds were intended for the development of facilities and
infrastructure in Rawagede village.
In 2005, 11
widows of Rawagede victims filed a lawsuit against the Dutch government at the
Dutch Civil Court, in regards to its role in a massacre in their village in
1947.
The legal
process continued until Sept. 14 this year when the court found the Dutch
government guilty and ordered it to pay compensation to the victims’ families.
Related Article:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.