Padang, West Sumatera (ANTARA News) - All societies in Padang, West Sumatra, collected relief funds amounting to Rp213 million (24 thousand US dollars) to help the Japanese people in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that hit the country recently, the Padang Mayor said.

"The relief funds will be delivered to the West Sumatra Bidha Tzuci Foundation before given to the victims. The humanitarian assistance shows how the people in Padang cares about the fate of the people hit by the disaster," Fauzi Bahar, the mayor of Padang, said here Monday.

Fauzi said the caring from Padang people was also reciprocation against Japanese government which concerned on the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Padang on September 30, 2009.

Therefore, he added, the local government really appreciated the effort of the people in collecting the funds and hoped the fund-raising which is called `badoncek` could be extended.

"I wish the fund-raising by the civil servants in the Padang local administration which is started today will get good results as the previous one," he said.

Fauzi also expressed the deepest condolences of the Padang government and the people to Japan. He hoped that the Japanese people could pass through the hard post-disaster condition and Japan would soon rise again.
(Uu.KR-FNY/H-NG)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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