GOVT PREPARING W SUMATRA REHABILITATION EFFORTS

Jakarta, Oct 6 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government is preparing rehabilitation and reconstruction plans for West Sumatra after a strong quake devastated the region last week.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono led a cabinet meeting on Monday to discuss the plan.

The meeting was attended by all cabinet ministers and also former chief of the Aceh-Nias rehabilitation and reconstruction agency (BRR), Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, and West Sumatra regional officials. Vice president Jusuf Kalla was not seen at the meeting.

President Yudhoyono said rehabilitation and reconstruction of West Sumatra would be carried out like in Aceh and Yogyakarta.

He said the program would be carried out soon without waiting for the completion of current emergency response efforts. "The emergency response efforts will continue. Although the efforts have been scheduled for about two months we will immediately carry out the rehabilitation and reconstruction program so that people would not have to wait," he said.

He said initial stages of rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts could be started to be formulated now.

He said the budget for it could be taken from the national as well as regional budgets and also donations from foreign countries such as from Saudi Arabia totaling US$50 million.

President Yudhoyono hoped the implementation of the program could be carried out by an organization so that it would be smooth, quick and meeting the goal.

He said there must be no speculative decisions with regard to the use of funds for the rehabilitation and reconstruction program for West Sumatra.

At the meeting the head of state also heard reports from the chairman of the National Agency for Disaster Control, Syamsul Maarif and West Sumatra regional officials.