Acehnese barracks<\/p>\n
The letter by Peter Droege from Australia (The Jakarta Post,
\nFeb. 24) raises a number of good points. I have just returned
\nfrom Aceh after staying in a refugee camp at Lhoknga for a few
\nnights that was adequate but not easy for everyone to live in.<\/p>\n
I looked at the barrack-type wooden homes being built
\ndown the road and was not at all impressed -- in fact I was
\nhorrified. Here the problem is what to do with the homeless in
\nthe medium\/long term when you have about 400,000 refugees. The
\nboxes (and I'll call them that) were about 13 meters by 40 meters
\nlong and each intended to house about 100 people. What amazed me
\nwere the prices being bantered about as to the cost of these 20
\nbedroom rabbit hutches.<\/p>\n
I heard Rp 450 million for one large barrack and Rp 350
\nmillion for smaller units, and yet in the newspaper some days ago
\nthe figure mentioned was Rp 200 million. Apparently the timber
\nprice from Medan has doubled from Rp 1.5 million to Rp 3 million
\nper cubic meter, thus doubling the initial price.<\/p>\n
My word, how convenient that must be for the many contractors
\nfighting over the right to build them. Rental property in Banda
\nAceh has gone through the roof and therefore local people cannot
\npossibly afford such prices. Are we about to see the donated
\nmoney slide away to the already rich and greedy?<\/p>\n
With regard to the barracks, many of the refugees said they
\nwould prefer to live in tents, although some did not. The
\nquestion is, why have prices gone up so drastically in an area
\nthat is so desperate for help? Apparently, there are just over
\n800 barracks to be built and so just work out what the overall
\ncost will be -- is that Rp 320 billion (US$350 million). One
\ncontractor said you must also take into account what you must pay
\non the road -- surely this still does not apply? I wonder what
\nthe real price is for such wooden box-like accommodation and
\nwhether President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono knows about this scam
\n-- for that is what it sounds like.<\/p>\n
DAVID WALLIS
\nMedan, North Sumatra<\/p>",
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