Aceh 'sea commanders' now high-profile<\/p>\n
Ati Nurbaiti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A number of traditional leaders visited the capital last week,
\nand one of them said they were a group of available men because
\nthere were now \"largely widowers.\"<\/p>\n
If the speaker was trying to break the ice with his audience
\nhe didn't manage to draw many smiles: The Acehnese men had lost
\ntheir wives to the horrific waves of the December tsunami.<\/p>\n
They are part of Aceh's \"commanders of the sea\", the panglima
\nlaot or chieftains of the coastal and fishing communities -- some
\nof Indonesia's lesser-known traditional institutions because of
\ndecades of uniformity of government structures.<\/p>\n
And like the raja of the Maluku province who became more
\nrecognized after bloody conflicts tore the islands apart, the
\nrole of these panglima are now emerging after the latest crisis
\naffecting Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.<\/p>\n
The \"commanders\" were here last Tuesday in a discussion on
\nlocal capacity building. It was one of many talks held during an
\nexhibition at the House of Representatives, where dozens of
\ninternational and local organizations were displaying their
\nongoing work in Aceh.<\/p>\n
Apart from saying they were available, the leaders had a more
\nserious message, basically being: \"Support us only where we need
\nyou, and stop harassing us.\"<\/p>\n
It is similar to that heard from other Acehnese these days, in
\ntheir grumbles, complaints and demands that could not be aired so
\nfreely before the tragedy. If anything good came out of the
\ndisaster it is that there is now the long-coveted space to speak
\nup free from fear of retaliation, intimidation or harassment,
\neither from authorities or the Free Aceh Movement. The government
\nhas now at last lifted the civil emergency status, but it was the
\nnatural disaster that swept Acehnese, and hence their voices --
\nearlier lost to the loudspeakers of the warring parties on their
\nsoil -- into the international limelight.<\/p>\n
As for the panglima, \"We're called commanders but we're not
\nmilitaristic,\" Adli Abdullah, one of the men, hastens to clarify.
\nHe was addressing a discussion between the commanders and former
\nminister of maritime affairs Sarwono Kusumaatmadja here last
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
Adli and T. Bustamam, the \"commander in chief\" of the
\npanglima's provincial organization, explain that the leaders take
\ncare of the needs of their communities, and are chosen based on
\nknowledge and experience in fishing and the ways of the sea,
\n\"although many are illiterate.\" None of them, apparently, was
\nhowever able to predict in time the terrible waves that swept
\naway Bustamam's wife and members of some 80,000 families who
\ndepended on fishing, not to mention their boats.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the Dec. 26 disaster, the coastal leaders and
\ntheir neighbors were able to gather whatever remaining resources
\nthey had to assist survivors. \"We worked with UNDP, providing
\ncash for work for 12,000 people,\" Adli said.<\/p>\n
Their togetherness reflected through their organization
\n(Lembaga Adat Panglima Laot Provinsi Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam)
\nmade it easier for outside organizations to assist them. They
\nhave even produced their own \"blueprint\", facilitated among
\nothers by environmental foundation Yayasan Laut Lestari Indonesia
\nand the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB).<\/p>\n
A few points raised in the book resulting from their meeting
\nin February are those often stressed by Acehnese -- that the
\nbillions of dollars donated from the international community
\nshould go to those entitled, and that they should be consulted
\nregarding the ongoing rebuilding of their province.<\/p>\n
\"Don't think we're weak and can be told what to do, we've been
\nthrough everything,\" says Adli, the organization's secretary
\ngeneral. He is referring to the life of insecurity that Acehnese
\nare used to, caught in between the military and the rebels since
\nthe late 1970s. In the February meeting they said they were
\nsimply sick of it.<\/p>\n
\"We don't need a war against GAM (the Free Aceh Movement); we
\nneed a war against poverty,\" one of them said, as quoted in a
\nreport on the online Aceh.kita news agency.<\/p>\n
The report cites their experience under the martial law period
\nof 2003 until last year, when boats had to be numbered; they also
\nhad to report before and after going to sea, with the authorities
\nsaying this was a way to monitor possible mobility of GAM members
\nin the areas.<\/p>\n
Historical citations show that the \"sea commanders\" originated
\nin the days of the early monarchies of the 1600s, when the
\npanglima collected tax among their other duties. Nowadays Adli
\nsaid fisherpeople depend on these leaders among others in
\nsettling disputes among them.<\/p>\n
But like other leaders there are good and bad ones, and the
\nfragile conditions given the collapse of traditional institutions
\nunder the New Order, even before martial law and the tsunami,
\npaves open the opportunity for anyone abusing the position of the
\npanglima. Local leaders are a lucrative position these days, what
\nwith the waves of funds available to help fisherfolk families.<\/p>\n
Researchers of the Yappika organization, one of many assisting
\nthe Acehnese, say one of their focus of an ongoing study is how
\nfar the much toted \"public participation\" in the plans of
\nrebuilding Aceh is taking place.<\/p>\n
Aceh's people and its local institutions must be strengthened,
\nsays researcher Isono Sadoko, as the government cannot be
\nexpected to take care of everything. But now, \"The danger
\n(regarding the attention over Aceh) is a feeling that it's (the
\ncrisis) largely over,\" he said.<\/p>",
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