Banda Aceh (ANTARA News) - Dutch Development Cooperation Minister Bert Koenders visited tsunami victims here on Friday to obtain first-hand information on their actual conditions after having received houses built with Dutch assistance.
Accompanied by Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia Nikolaos van Dam, Koenders engaged in a serious dialog with a number of tsunami victims in the Blang Oi area, Meuraxa sub district, Banda Aceh.
In the dialog which proceeded in a friendly atmosphere, the Dutch minister asked how they felt after having moved into their new houses.
Responding to Koenders` question, Kusmiyati, one of the victims, said she was happy to be staying in her new house.
"We enjoy staying in this new house, and therefore want to express our gratitude to the parties that have given us a new house," Kusmiyati said.
Koenders also visited the site of a mass grave in Ulee Lheue and a wave-breaker project in Gampong Baru, Meuraxa sub district.
The Dutch minister is scheduled to meet with the chief of the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR-Aceh Nias), Kuntoro Mangkusubroto.
Koenders arrived in Aceh on Thursday to get first-hand information about post-tsunami rehabilitation, reconstruction and reintegration efforts.
Earlier in the day, at a meeting with Aceh Deputy Governor Muhammad Nazar, Koenders said the Dutch government would provide assistance for tsunami victims in Aceh until 2010.
The Dutch government had earmarked the equivalent of Rp2.2 trillion in funds to implement programs to assist tsunami victims in Aceh between 2005 and 2010.
Koenders was scheduled to proceed to Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, on Saturday to meet with Governor Agustin Teras Narang, and later attend the UN Climate Change Meeting in Bali from December 11-13, 2007.
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