Indonesian gov't starts to disburse aid fund

PADANG, Indonesia, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government started on Thursday disbursing the funds allocated to help the victims of a strong earthquake in West Sumatra province with initial disbursement of five billion rupiah (about 519,480 U.S. dollars) from total allocation of 100 billion rupiah (about 10.3 million dollars).

"The initial fund disbursement at an amount of five billion rupiah has already been disbursed to the governor. It would be used to procure sarongs, tents and baby foods for the victims," Public welfare Minister Aburizal Bakri said here.

He said that the food supply for the victims have already secured. The governor is authorized to procure 200 tons of rice. Meanwhile, regents were allowed to procure the 100 tons with the aid allocation fund.

The power supply is expected to return to normal within the next three days, Aburizal said, adding that clean water would be shipped into the quake-devastated areas immediately and the telecommunication system has gradually back to normal.