Jakarta Globe, January 15, 2014
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| A villager pours pesticide from a bucket as Mount Sinabung spews ash at Kebayaken village in Karo district, North Sumatra, on Dec. 4, 2013. (Reuters Photo/Roni Bintang) |
The House
of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie suggested during a plenary meeting on
Wednesday that each member of the legislative body should donate 25 percent of
their monthly salary to victims of the ongoing Mount Sinabung eruptions in
North Sumatra.
The
donation scheme was initially suggested by Heriyanto, a lawmaker with the
Democratic Party, during the meeting.
“I
recommend that we give 25 percent of our incomes to the victims of Mount
Sinabung,” he said as quoted by news portal Merdeka.com. “I will be the first.”
Marzuki
approved the motion, banging his gavel, adding that all lawmakers from the
Sinabung district should donate the entirety of their monthly salaries to those
affected.
A House
member on average receives Rp 15,510,000 ($1,287) per month, excluding extra
allowances for utilities and housing, which could amount to more than Rp 45
million per month.
“This is
something for pride,” he said as quoted by Detik.com. “At least it could
relieve us of our sins for the new year.”
Anton
Sihombing, a lawmaker from the Golkar Party, urged the central government to
take concrete actions to help the volcano victims.
“We have to
insist that the government [assist] the victims of Mount Sinabung,” he said as
quoted by Detik. “They have been evacuated in more than four months.”
The slow
response of the government has also prompted a Twitter campaign.
President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday tweeted that he plans to visit the victims
next week.
“Next week,
God willing, I will return to Kabanjahe to make sure that the Sinabung
administration and victims are well,” he said.
More than
25,000 residents have fled their homes in the past week around Mount Sinabung.
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