Parcels likely to go to Indonesia

Press, 16 August 1980, Page 1

Parcels likely to go to Indonesia

Seventy clothing parcels . recently returned to a Christchurch woman’, may soon be on their way back to Indonesia. Ministry of Foreign Affairs has told Miss June McLennan that the parcels were returned because, of a “misunderstanding." In June, Miss McLennan had returned to her the parcels which she had sent to the Selokab Pentecostal School at Solo over an 18-month period. Mrs Dorothy Walker, the missionary in charge of the school, had returned them because she could not afford the $7O customs duty asked by the Indonesian authorities. , ,

The New Zealand Post: Office subsequently decided to waive the $5OO return postage. In a letter to Miss McLennan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Indonesian authorities had informed it that duty

was not normally imposed on “charitable donations of this type'.’’ "-’T-';’/'"- ’■ “The return of the parcels appears to have been due~ .. to misunderstanding,”’ said the MinisThe Indonesian authorities had to be asked to exempt charitable donations before they arrived there. “In cases where a number of parcels will arrive over a period, it is not necessary for the recipient to inform customs every time a parcel arrives,” the Ministry said. , ■ However, the addressee should inform Indonesian customs of the number of parcels estimated, to arrive in a certain' period, say a yean The Ministry told Miss McLennan that the best way to avoid similar problems in future would be to apply for a duty exemption through the Indonesian Church Council,

which was- familiar / with: the.procedures, , //. Miss McLennan said: she would write to • Mrs Walker to tell, l her; to follow this exemption, procedure before any more parcels were sent.

Miss McLennan will now ask the Ministry that no postage be charged on the return of the parcels to Indonesia. “The Jakarta Customs’ can pay for this, this time — the parcels should never have been sent back.” She is confident all the parcels will' soon be sent back to Indonesia without her paying any more postage.’

. “God has taken this so far and T believe He is. not going to leave the job uncompleted,” she said/ She described the latest development as a “victory for Jesus” ’ -— hundreds? of people had ...been .praying that the problem would be solved. ?/;/' //.'■?■/