Tanoto Foundation Donates 500 Tons of Oxygen for Covid-19 Patients

JAKARTA, INDONESIA – Media OutReach – 12 July 2021 -
To support Indonesia’s efforts in the urgent fight against the COVID-19
pandemic, Tanoto Foundation today announced it is donating 500 tons of oxygen
to hospitals. The donation is made by pulp and paper maker APRIL Group’s
Indonesia operations PT Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (RAPP), based in Riau’s
Pangkalan Kerinci.

Tanoto Foundation is an independent philanthropy
organization established by Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto in 1981, and
has previously partnered APRIL Group and PT RAPP on a variety of community
development, human capital development and COVID-19 relief programs.

The surge in COVID-19 cases in Indonesia has caused a
shortage of oxygen in hospitals, especially for patients with serious to severe
symptoms. The Ministry of Industry has coordinated with several companies
across various industries that are able to produce medical oxygen to ramp up
the supply of oxygen for COVID-19 patients in the country.

Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita expressed
his appreciation for  Tanoto Foundation
and its partner PT RAPP, which has designated a part of its oxygen plant
facility for pulp bleaching to producing medical oxygen. Five hundred tons of
oxygen will be sent from Pangkalan Kerinci to Jakarta from Friday, July 9,
2021, in five shipments, with each carrying 100 tons of oxygen.

Dr. Dante Saksono
Harbuwono, the Deputy Minister of Health, expressed appreciation for the
donation made by the Tanoto Foundation and APRIL Group. He said: “With the rise
of COVID-19 cases, we will need more oxygen for treatment and to save lives. We
thank the Tanoto Foundation and APRIL Group for providing oxygen to our hospitals
in Java which are treating patients with serious to severe symptoms. The
pandemic calls for the collective effort of all existing stakeholders such as
the government, the private sector and the people.”

Anderson Tanoto, Member of the Tanoto Foundation Board of
Trustees, said: “When we received information on the shortage of oxygen in
hospitals for COVID-19 patients, we felt the need to quickly respond by
carrying out swift distribution of oxygen produced by PT RAPP to Java. The
distribution will be supervised by the Ministry of Health, ensuring the
hospitals that are in dire need will receive the necessary supply.”

Mr Tanoto added: “I would like to express my gratitude for
the support of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Health, which has facilitated
the transportation and distribution of the oxygen in less than 36 hours to
Java. We hope that the donation can support the treatment of COVID-19 patients
and save precious lives.”

Data from the Ministry of Health revealed that the surge in COVID-19
cases in the country in recent weeks has coincided with the sharp increase in
demand for medical oxygen from 400 tons per day to 2,500 tons.