TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Samin, an elementary school groundskeeper from Solo who lost Rp50 million of his hajj savings because the bills were eaten by termites, can breathe a small sigh of relief. Some of the damaged paper currency was salvaged with the help of Bank Indonesia staff and could be exchanged.

The Solo Branch of Bank Indonesia today redeemed Rp20.22 million of Samin's money after two days of identifying and reconstructing the damaged bills. On September 13 and 14, several of the bank's employees even came to Samin's house to help with the process.

In a press conference on Thursday, September 15, BI Solo office head Nugroho Joko Prastowo said that Samin and the bank officers managed to string up pieces of the banknotes so they would be eligible to exchange.

After two days, a total of Rp20.22 million could be identified. "So the total amount of money eligible for exchange is Rp20.22 million," Nugroho said.

Samin, 53, thanked everyone who helped recover some of his money that was eaten by termites. He hopes that people will learn from his mistake.

"Don’t be like me, keeping my money in a plastic money box. I really regret it," he said, adding he would immediately open a hajj savings account.

Septia Rianthie

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