Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi Province last September was hit by the strong earthquakes and tsunami, and the impact of the disaster was heavy. By the government of Republic of China, with the people donation, the groundbreaking opening ceremony for the Islamic Center was held on June 16. Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin attended and thanked Taiwan for its assistance.
The new Islamic Center is located in Sigi, Central Sulawesi. The groundbreaking ceremony was organized by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI). The President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo success re-election partner, Ma’ruf Amin is the chairman of MUI.
John Chen (陳忠), the representative of Republic of China in Indonesia, the CEO of Three-wheels Foundation that formed by the Indonesian-Taiwanese businessmen, Zhong Wenzhao (鐘文燐) was invited to attend. According to the press release of the representative office, about 400 political leaders and religious leaders attended the groundbreaking ceremony. John Chen said, Taiwan is far from Indonesia, but the hearts of two sides’ people are similar. After the disaster occurred, the government and people immediately expressed the concern for the Indonesian victims, donated $500.000 USD (about $15,9 million NTD) to MUI, assist the post-disaster reconstruction.
During his speech, Ma’ruf Amin said that he was very grateful to Taiwan and to the people for their generous donations. The funds will be used to build the Islamic Center and disaster-stricken houses, hope that it can help the victims to return back to their normal life as soon as possible, activate the local economic development.
Taiwan representative office pointed out that after the disaster in Indonesia happened, Taiwan and the people are doing their part in international humanitarian responsibility. Through the representative office, International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF), Three-wheels Foundation and some institutions such as Indonesian Red Cross and international NGO’s, investigate the after disaster impact, it is estimated the amount has exceeded $2.35 million USD for all the reconstruction.
