HOUSE APPROVES RP1.2 TRILLION FOR W SUMATRA RECONSTRUCTION

Jakarta, Nov 22 (ANTARA) - The House of Representatives (DPR)'s Budgetary Committee has approved a fund of Rp1.2 trillion for the reconstruction of West Sumatra province which was recently devastated by a magnitude-7.9 earthquake, a legislator said.

"The House gave the approval in a plenary session last week," House member Taslim who represented West Sumatra said here on Sunday.

The funds were included in the West Sumatra spending post head and were expected to be disbursed next month at the latest, Taslim said.

He said that the funds were enough for the regional government to handle the impacts of the earthquake in a number of districts and cities in West Sumatra.

On September 30, 2009, a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale devastated Padang city, the provincial capital of West Sumatra, killing at least 1,117 people.

A total of 1,214 people were suffering from serious injuries, and 1,688 others were lightly injured. However, unofficial estimates put the number of victims at thousands, as many were still buried under the ruins of the collapsed buildings.

The earthquake also destroyed 101,653 houses, and caused damage to 97,995 others.

A number of hotels, restaurants and their supporting facilities were also destroyed. Of the 47 star-rated hotels in the province, 24 were damaged, 11 of which devastated, like the Ambacang, Rocky Plaza, Mariani, Nuasa and Hayam Wuruk hotels.

The Padang city administration alone suffered a loss of more than Rp7 trillion in the earthquake, including those caused by ruptured clean water pipelines under the city's roads.