After tsunami, 'finally time to lokk ahead'<\/p>\n
Tini Tran, Associated Press \/ Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
Gathering in the shadow of a mosque battered by the December
\ntsunami, local leaders and international donors on Saturday took
\nstock of a disaster that wiped out vast stretches of Aceh and
\nsaid rebuilding efforts were picking up steam after months of
\ndelays.<\/p>\n
Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, director of the Rehabilitation and
\nReconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias, thanked international
\nleaders for their support and said he was hopeful that the
\nAcehnese would take this opportunity \"to make Aceh stronger than
\nbefore.\"<\/p>\n
\"Now it's time to look forward,\" he said, noting that US$2.8
\nbillion in funds have been disbursed by foreign donors and $1.9
\nbillion in projects approved by his agency. \"Finally, things are
\nhappening on the ground.\"<\/p>\n
Officials, including representatives from the World Bank, the
\nUnited States, Australia, and Japan, highlighted the few signs of
\nprogress in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam -- the dozens of homes being
\nbuilt in many destroyed villages or a pier being rebuilt in the
\nwest coast town of Meulaboh.<\/p>\n
\"We're at a stage now (that) within the next month or so we'll
\nreally begin to see recovery and reconstruction changes
\nphysically in Aceh,\" said Bo Asplund, the top UN official in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which pulled out of the
\nprovince in March over a dispute with the government, used the
\noccasion to say it was returning.<\/p>\n
But the rosy picture painted by officials has been lost on the
\nfew residents who have returned to this coastal area known as
\nUlee Lheu. Once home to a string of thriving middle-class
\nneighborhoods, it's now little more than piles of dirt, bricks
\nand trash six months after the disaster.<\/p>\n
The Baiturrahim mosque where the officials gathered is about
\nthe only standing structure along this coast on the outskirts of
\nthe provincial capital, Banda Aceh. Nothing has been rebuilt for
\nkilometers, save a prayer hall and a smattering of tents.<\/p>\n
The mammoth quake and tsunami six months ago killed more than
\n178,000 people in 11 countries and about 50,000 more are missing.<\/p>\n
The focus has shifted from emergency relief to longer-term
\nrecovery; donors and aid agencies are seeking to rebuild basic
\ninfrastructure and renew broken lives.<\/p>\n
Indonesia was the hardest hit of all the countries, with
\n131,000 dead and a half-million left homeless. And while
\nreconstruction has begun, 250,000 Acehnese survivors remain in
\ntents awaiting promised housing and other services.<\/p>\n
Aceh's recovery has been plagued by political squabbling,
\ndonor concerns over corruption, and government delays in
\nreleasing guidelines for rebuilding, especially along the coast.<\/p>",
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