NORWEGIAN MINISTER LAYS CORNER STONE OF PADANG PMI BUILDING

Padang, Nov 25 (ANTARA) - Norwegian Environment Minister Erik Solheim laid the cornerstone of an Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) building in Padang, West Sumatra, on Wednesday.

The Sumatra regional PMI building is to stand on a one-hectare plot of land and with its construction cost of Rp5.5 billion to be covered by the Norwegian and Japanese red cross organizations.

It would take at least 180 days to construct the 3,000 square-meter building, located on Jalan Bypass in West Sumatra's provincial capital.

On the occasion, Erik Solheim was accompanied by Norwegian Red Cross official Borge Brende, PMI Secretary General Iyang D Sukandar, and West Sumatra Vice Governor Marlis Rahman.

After laying the corner stone, the Norwegian environment minister went on a tour of earthquake victim shelters in Padang Pariaman district.

Meanwhile, West Sumatra Vice Governor Marlis Rahman in his address said the plan to construct the Sumatra regional PMI building had gone through a long process which included the selection of the best possible location.

Eventually, it was decided to construct the building on a plot of land on Jalan Bypass in Padang because the site lay in a green zone that was safe from tsunamis.

Padang has been categorized as a tsunami-prone area. Its territory has been divided into three zones, namely red zone, yellow zone, and green zone.

"We actually do not expect tsunami to happen in Padang but we have to be vigilant and therefore we decided to set up the PMI building in a safe area," Marlis Rahman said.

On the occasion, Rahman, on behalf of the West Java provincial administration, also expressed his gratitude to the Norwegian and Japanese governments, and other parties that had helped to mitigate the impact of the recent devastating earthquake in Padang.

The earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale rocked Padang city on September 30, 2009, triggering many landslides in the province. At least 1,195 people were killed and thousands of others were rendered homeless by the temblor.