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Got money to help Indonesia, no money to build longkangs and help Singaporeans either. Shameless...
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_548841.html
Jul 2, 2010
S'pore hands over hospital
By Radha Basu, Senior Correspondent
Mr Yeo officiates the opening of the hospital Cut Nyak Dhien Meulaboh on Friday. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
MEULABOH (Aceh) - SINGAPOREANS were the first foreigners to set foot in tsunami-ravaged Meulaboh, Aceh, days after tragedy struck that sunny Sunday morning in December 2004. They came to bury the dead, help heal the wounded and begin the long hard task of rebuilding a town reduced to rubble.
On Friday, 5 1/2 years later, Foreign Minister George Yeo announced the completion of all major reconstruction projects in what grew to be the biggest humanitarian mission in the Republic's history.
And as Team Singapore pulled out, it left behind a modern hospital, spacious schools, brightly painted homes - and a people who are learning to hope again.
Mr Yeo was in the coastal Indonesian town - which lost a quarter of its 40,000 people to the tsunami - to hand over a $12 million general hospital funded by Singapore to the Indonesian authorities.
When Singapore first offered to help its neighbour and friend in those tense, tragic days after the tsunami, the Indonesian Government requested that it focus its efforts on Meulaboh.
Its bridges were broken. The arterial roads connecting it to Banda Aceh and Medan were clogged with debris. Its pier had been swept away.
Its main hospital, while largely spared by the waves, had been damaged by the earthquake. Bodies were piling up in the courtyard as survivors came to look for missing loved ones and tend to the injured.
On Friday, the same courtyard, rebuilt, like the rest of the hospital, came alive with music and dance.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Yeo said that when he first visited Meulaboh nearly a year after the tsunami, there was still 'destruction everywhere'. 'Now, each time I come, I see progress,' he told the gathering.
The Cut Nyak Dhien Hospital was the 70th and last project to be funded by the Tidal Waves Asia Fund, set up with donations from the people, corporations and Government of Singapore.
Roughly two-thirds of the $89 million collected - was allocated to Indonesia. The fund was administered by Singapore Red Cross (SRC), which also build the hospital in collaboration with the Singapore government and Temasek Holdings.
While reconstruction work has officially ended, Singapore will continue to strengthen administrative capacity in Meulaboh, Mr Yeo said, adding that he was in talks with the World Bank to see how best to further help Meulaboh.
'So many people died... an administrative culture has got to be built up and all kinds of specialists must be trained. Where we can, within our resources, we should help, and will continue to do so,' he said.
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_548841.html
Jul 2, 2010
S'pore hands over hospital
By Radha Basu, Senior Correspondent
Mr Yeo officiates the opening of the hospital Cut Nyak Dhien Meulaboh on Friday. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
MEULABOH (Aceh) - SINGAPOREANS were the first foreigners to set foot in tsunami-ravaged Meulaboh, Aceh, days after tragedy struck that sunny Sunday morning in December 2004. They came to bury the dead, help heal the wounded and begin the long hard task of rebuilding a town reduced to rubble.
On Friday, 5 1/2 years later, Foreign Minister George Yeo announced the completion of all major reconstruction projects in what grew to be the biggest humanitarian mission in the Republic's history.
And as Team Singapore pulled out, it left behind a modern hospital, spacious schools, brightly painted homes - and a people who are learning to hope again.
Mr Yeo was in the coastal Indonesian town - which lost a quarter of its 40,000 people to the tsunami - to hand over a $12 million general hospital funded by Singapore to the Indonesian authorities.
When Singapore first offered to help its neighbour and friend in those tense, tragic days after the tsunami, the Indonesian Government requested that it focus its efforts on Meulaboh.
Its bridges were broken. The arterial roads connecting it to Banda Aceh and Medan were clogged with debris. Its pier had been swept away.
Its main hospital, while largely spared by the waves, had been damaged by the earthquake. Bodies were piling up in the courtyard as survivors came to look for missing loved ones and tend to the injured.
On Friday, the same courtyard, rebuilt, like the rest of the hospital, came alive with music and dance.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Yeo said that when he first visited Meulaboh nearly a year after the tsunami, there was still 'destruction everywhere'. 'Now, each time I come, I see progress,' he told the gathering.
The Cut Nyak Dhien Hospital was the 70th and last project to be funded by the Tidal Waves Asia Fund, set up with donations from the people, corporations and Government of Singapore.
Roughly two-thirds of the $89 million collected - was allocated to Indonesia. The fund was administered by Singapore Red Cross (SRC), which also build the hospital in collaboration with the Singapore government and Temasek Holdings.
While reconstruction work has officially ended, Singapore will continue to strengthen administrative capacity in Meulaboh, Mr Yeo said, adding that he was in talks with the World Bank to see how best to further help Meulaboh.
'So many people died... an administrative culture has got to be built up and all kinds of specialists must be trained. Where we can, within our resources, we should help, and will continue to do so,' he said.
