Jakarta, Indonesia-Relief -- The
Caritas Austria's Programme Manager for Aceh, Renate Korbers, and Caritas
Germany's Country Representative in Medan, Klaus H Schreiner, said that
the organizations have stop Mamamia from using of illegal timbers for construction
of houses, as of May.
''Caritas Germany and Caritas Austria
as donors of the housing project in Lhoong have taken appropriate measures
to prevent the use of illegal timber as soon as they were certain about
this fact. Already in early May both organizations conducted discussions
with Mamamia on this topic. As of May 2005 no illegal wood is being purchased
for the Lhoong housing project anymore,'' said both Korber and Schreiner
in a joint statement received by Indonesia-Relief.
According to the Korber and Schreiner joint statement, Mamamia has entered into a written agreement with Caritas Germany and Caritas Austria to procure timber with a FSC certificate to continue the housing project.
Both also emphasized that ''the Lhoong housing project is the most progressed project for permanent housing in Aceh.''
Mamamia, shorts for Yayasan Mamamia (Masyarakat Makmur Mitra Adil), has started the construction of 800 houses since mid-March. As Mamamia is local NGO and old player in Aceh, and its project manager Abraham Heijboer (Netherlands) have an agribusiness company based in Aceh, they can start the project without have to wait for the Aceh blue print. The project takes place at subdistrict of Lhoong, 30 km south of Banda Aceh.
In May, Austrian Ambassador to Indonesia Bernhard Zimburg visited the area to monitor the progress of the projects. The project is funded by Caritas Austria (700,000 euros) and Caritas Germany (1,3 million euros). On its plan, Caritas Germany will supply more than 800 ton of cement and more than 4,000 cubic meter of timbers.
Based on Fauna and Flora International investigation, FFI official Frank Momberg, previously announced that Mamamia use illegal timbers to build the 800 houses. But after several dialog with Mamamia official, Momberg said, ''they agreed to stop buying illegal timbers.'' © che