MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
Gallus
The 12 October Australia Memorial Centre at Sanglah Hospital in Bali was officially handed over today by Australia's Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Chris Gallus, to Indonesia's President, Megawati Sukarnoputri.
'The centre stands as a practical living memorial to the victims of the Bali tragedy and demonstrates Australia's commitment to helping the people of Bali,' Mrs Gallus said.
'The new health facility is part of the Australian Government's $10.5 million Bali Memorial package of assistance which includes an intensive care and burns unit.
'Our assistance aims to improve the Bali health system in the aftermath of the shocking terrorist attack of 12 October 2002.
'The horrific terrorist bombing in Bali caused massive casualties - a total of 202 people were killed, including 88 Australians and 39 Indonesians.
'The new centre will house a 14-bed post-operative intensive care unit, a six-bed intensive coronary care unit, a 15-bed burns unit and a dedicated operating theatre.
'Part of the assistance package was used to upgrade other facilities at Sanglah Hospital and provide training for staff.
'Australia is also providing more than $3 million for the construction of the Australia-Bali Memorial Eye Centre and two mobile outreach eye clinics.
'The new eye centre aims to expand sight restoration and blindness prevention programs to combat operable blindness, which affects more than 50,000 people in Bali.
'Australia is also funding health and medical scholarship opportunities, worth $3 million over five years, for candidates from within the Balinese health system.
'Australia is committed to our strong relationship with Indonesia and we increased our development assistance in 2002-05, by almost $10 million, to more than $160 million,' Mrs Gallus said.
Media inquiries:
Shane Fairlie (Mrs Gallus's Office) 0408 680 442
Jo Elsom (AusAID) 6206 4960 or 0412 804 489
Dominic Morice (Bali) 0417 683 126