JAKARTA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank (WB) announced on Sunday funding of up to 1 billion U.S. dollars to assist Indonesian government for its reconstruction efforts in disaster-affected areas of Lombok and Sulawesi, bolstering the nation's long-term resilience.
The standby fund, available on request by the Indonesian government, will give a 5 million U.S. dollars grant for technical assistance for detailed planning to ensure reconstruction is resilient and community-led.
The announcement was made in International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank (WB) annual meeting slated to end Sunday in Indonesia's Bali.
"Indonesian government's immediate relief efforts are robust and impressive. As we enter the reconstruction phase we are making up to 1 billion U.S. dollars of comprehensive support available for Indonesia. The best memorial to those who lost their lives is build back better," WB Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement.
WB package could include cash transfers to the poorest 150,000 affected families for a period between six months to one year.
The package could also include a new standalone emergency recovery program to finance rebuilding of critical public facilities and infrastructure assets: hospitals, schools, bridges, roads, highways, water supply infrastructure.
It would also strengthen monitoring and early warning systems, and help finance the reconstruction of housing settlements and neighborhood level infrastructure and services.
"Indonesian government appreciates the attention and support of the international community in our time of need, including from the World Bank Group. Restoring lives and livelihoods of the people affected by natural disasters is the government's utmost priority," Indonesia Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said in the statement.
According to its preliminary damage assessment on the impacts of earthquake and tsunami in Sulawesi, WB estimated that the multiple disasters has generated physical loss up to 8.07 trillion rupiah (about 531 million U.S. dollars).
The loss estimation came from substantial damages in residential, non-residential and infrastructure sectors.
"By working with the government on resilience, disaster recovery and preparedness we aim to help ensure that Indonesia continues its upward economic path," WB Country Director for Indonesia, Rodrigo A. Chaves said.
Multiple earthquakes and an ensuing tsunami tore through Palu city on Sulawesi island on Sept. 28, killing more than 2,000 people and leaving thousands more missing.
