The Finance Ministry is preparing a mechanism for foreign assistance in the redevelopment and reconstruction of earthquake and tsunami-hit areas in Palu, Donggala and surrounding cities in Central Sulawesi.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said many countries had offered assistance to carry out the reconstruction of residential areas and infrastructure in the areas hit by the disasters that led to more than 1,200 deaths.

“There are countries that have stated the amounts of the assistance. So we need to draft a mechanism on how to receive the assistance in the form of cash,” said Sri Mulyani at the State Palace in Jakarta on Thursday as reported by kontan.co.id.

Such assistance would be used to recover and reconstruct Central Sulawesi’s cities hit by the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that was followed by a tsunami, she said, adding that the government was focusing on emergency work to help the survivors of the disaster.

Previously, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said at least 17 countries and the European Union had offered assistance to Indonesia.

The countries are the United States, France, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Norway, Hungary, Turkey, Australia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, New Zealand, Thailand, Japan, India and China.

Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said, for example, India had offered US$1 million to reconstruct houses. “We are calculating how many houses can be constructed with the money,” he added. (bbn)