Acehnese get back to business<\/p>\n
Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
Life was beginning to return to something approaching normalcy
\nin Banda Aceh on Tuesday, barely a month after the deadly tsunami
\nflattened most of the Aceh capital.<\/p>\n
Cars and motorcycles filled the city's main thoroughfares, and
\nmany shops had reopened, in stark contrast to a few weeks ago
\nwhen only a handful of stores were seen open in the whole city.
\nThe resumption of normalcy could be seen particularly in Neusu,
\nwhere some 90 percent of the shops had reopened.<\/p>\n
Fruit vendors have once again set up their stalls on the
\ncity's sidewalks. Two weeks ago, they were only to be found in
\nthe Keutapang, Ulee Kareng and Neusu markets.<\/p>\n
In another sign of a return to normal, people are once again
\nfrequenting restaurants and supermarkets.<\/p>\n
Susanti, who works in the Panti Pirak supermarket in Neusu,
\nsaid that more and more people were coming out to shop.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old said that there had been a dramatic increase
\nin the number of people coming to the supermarket compared to
\npre-tsunami times, apparently due to the large number of
\nvolunteers and aid workers who had come to Aceh after the
\ndisaster.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the city's civil servants also started to return to
\nwork on Tuesday. Some only showed up to let their superiors know
\nthat they were still alive, while others have actually started to
\nwork again. Some civil servants have been relocated to areas away
\nfrom the devastated parts of the city.<\/p>\n
Given the unsafe state of the gubernatorial offices, Aceh
\ndeputy governor Azwar Abu Bakar and Aceh provincial secretary
\nThantawi Ishak have moved to a building in the compound of the
\nlocal agriculture office, located some 700 meters away from the
\ngubernatorial offices.<\/p>\n
\"The pillars of the gubernatorial office building have been
\nunsafe since the earthquake. We are afraid that the building will
\ncollapse if any more quakes hit Banda Aceh,\" said Thantawi.<\/p>\n
To get the wheels of government working again, the deputy
\ngovernor instructed all civil servants from the Nanggroe Aceh
\nDarussalam provincial administration to turn up for a briefing on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
While people have begun to pick up the pieces of their lives
\nin most parts of the city, a somber mood continued to pervade the
\ndisplaced persons' shelters scattered throughout the capital.
\nMany of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) still only eat
\nonce a day, which has led to concerns among health workers that
\nthey could be left vulnerable to disease.<\/p>\n
Moreover, they are still living in tents and have to sleep on
\nmats on the ground. The IDPs are now eagerly awaiting the
\ncompletion of the semi-permanent shelters promised by the central
\ngovernment. A total of 24 are planned for throughout Aceh, with
\nseven of them to be located in the capital. But as to when the
\nshelters will be completed is anyone's guess.<\/p>\n
Corpses were still being pulled out of the rubble of buildings
\non the outskirts of Banda Aceh on Tuesday -- in such places as
\nLhok Nga, Lepung and Lampisang. But the number of volunteers seen
\nworking was considerably smaller than a few weeks ago, with most
\nof them having already left the stricken province.<\/p>\n
The city of Banda Aceh is still covered in clouds of dust as
\nmuch of the rubble has yet to be cleared. These piles of rubble
\nand debris, particularly evident in Darussalam and Ule Lheu
\ndistricts, bear silent witness to the leveling of a proud city by
\nthe unstoppable forces of nature.<\/p>",
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