Jakarta-wapresri.go.id. Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Friday (March 17) led a meeting on the development of an Indonesian hospital in Myanmar.

At the beginning of the meeting held at the Vice Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Deputy Foreign Minister A.M. Fachir reported that this program is purely a humanitarian aid.

“The perception that we should build from now on should not be based on religious sentiment, but rather on humanity. This should also involve the entire community in Myanmar to empower them,” said Fachir.

He further said, there are three development projects of Indonesia’s aid in Rakhine State, Myanmar, which are two schools in Sitwe and Maung Daw, and a hospital in Mrauk. The construction of the hospital, he added, is attempted to take place before April 2017, during a long holiday season.

“The construction is planned to be launched on March 24 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, if Your Excellency Mr. Vice President is pleased,” he said.

In the same vein, advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Salman Al Farisi said, a team of the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) and the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) had presented the design of the hospital to the Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he added, has also communicated the design of the hospital as well as Indonesia’s readiness to build it in Myanmar.

“Hopefully in the near future everything can be executed, so that at the end of March a delegation from Indonesia could go to Myanmar to resolve matters related to the development, such as the appointment of contractors and a site check to make sure everything goes well,” said Salman.

Salman also explained that Indonesia’s humanitarian aid to Myanmar is not only in the form of construction of hospitals, but also on community development which is a synergistic program between the government, MER-C, PMI, and the Alliance of Indonesian Humanity Aids to Myanmar (AKIM).

“So far, we have two million dollars to run the program for about two years. One that we are building [in the program] is ‘a peace market’ as developed in Ambon,” he said.

In response, the Vice President appreciated and supported the humanitarian aid programs. He further hoped the construction of the hospital could begin immediately as everything is considered to be ready.

“We need to finalize or hasten the construction of the hospital,” the Vice President affirmed.

According to him, this is a follow-up aid commitment delivered during the ASEM summit in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia.

Regarding the design of the hospital, the Vice President advised that there should be a characteristic that will indicate the hospital is built by Indonesia.

The Vice President also instructed to create a joint team consisting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MER-C, PMI, and AKIM to perform a technical assessment in Myanmar.

“It will become the embryo of the establishment of a single agency of South-South Cooperation,” he said.

After the meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister Fachir told the media, the humanitarian aid to Myanmar would put emphasis on an inclusive and comprehensive approach.

“Inclusive means that all must be involved. [This humanitarian program] is not only run by governments but also by those who are engaged in the humanitarian field. [The results is also] inclusive for all the people of Myanmar, especially in Rakhine,” he argued.

Fachir further said, the proposed hospital will serve about 2,000 residents in the surrounding area, both Muslim and Buddhist.

Also present in the meeting were a member of MER-C Presidium Dr. Sarbini, Head of Health Care, Social, and Hospital Division of PMI Dr. Farid Husain, Chairman of AKIM Executive Committee M. Ali Yusuf, Head of the Secretariat of the Vice President Mohamad Oemar, Deputy for Policy Support on Human Development and Equitable Development Bambang Widianto, and the Vice President’s Expert Team member Sofjan Wanandi.