147 Homes Funded By GE Handed Over In Aceh -- Habitat for Humanity Int'l 1
April 7, 2006147 Homes Funded By GE Handed Over In Aceh
Community chips in to help put tin roof on leaking house
BANDA ACEH, 7th April 2006: The handover of 147 houses constructed in Kampung Mulia by Habitat for Humanity Indonesia and funded by multinational giant General Electric marks a new beginning for some of the victims of the 2004 tsunami which devastated Aceh province in Indonesia.
|
Taking the lead: (From left) Leonilo Escalada, Habitat's tsunami recovery project director for Indonesia, Jusuf Arbianto, chairman of HFH Indonesia's board, and Stuart Dean, GE Co.'s president for Southeast Asia.
|
A symbolic handover of the houses was made by General Electric (GE) Foundation's president Robert Corcoran at a ceremony on 2nd April, witnessed by the chief of the Indonesian central agency for tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, who heads Rekonstruksi dan Rehabilitasi (Agency for Reconstruction and Rehabilitation, known as BRR), lauded Habitat for its ability to deliver on its promise of constructing houses. He also exhorted the homepartner families in the community to maintain the new houses properly.
“Habitat is our strategic partner and we will continue to support their reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts here in Aceh," said Stuart Dean, GE's regional director for Asia.
The handover ceremony also capped a four-day house construction by 18 volunteers from GE Elfun. Mr. Corcoran later joined the volunteers in laying bricks.
|
Work of a different nature: GE Elfun volunteers from Indonesia and Malaysia working together to construct a home
|
Elated at his new house, 52-year-old Habitat home partner Harapan M. Husen said: “We are very happy that Habitat comes to build houses here. Habitat and its partners showed that they really cared for the victims of the tsunami, especially to us here in Kampung Mulia.”
“We pray that Habitat will continue to receive blessings from God so that it can continue to help more tsunami victims in Aceh to have their own homes.”
Harapan, a former village head in Kampung Mulia and father of five, praised Habitat for listening to the people and helping to encourage the young people to work. "Habitat gives us new hope for the future," he added.
Habitat for Humanity Indonesia has completed 504 of the targeted 700 odd houses in Kampung Mulia.
To date, Habitat has built 2,300 new houses out of the 7,500 houses targeted for the whole of the province.
|