Life gets even tougher for Acehnese under siege<\/p>\n
Bernie K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Lhokseumawe, Aceh<\/p>\n
A convoy of five marine trucks, two armored personnel carriers
\nand a tank rumbled into Pulo Ara village, a group of wooden
\nhouses on a sandy beach and nestled among banana and palm trees.<\/p>\n
Pulo Ara looks eerily empty. A few faces belonging to women
\nand children appear from behind half-closed doors and window
\nshutters.<\/p>\n
For 50-year-old Saridah, the sight of soldiers sweeping
\nthrough her village is nothing new.<\/p>\n
It has been more than three weeks since Aceh came under
\nmartial law in a new war against the separatist Free Aceh
\nMovement (GAM) following a five-year lull.<\/p>\n
People here have faced the return of the war with a certain
\ndegree of resignation, as they endure tighter security checks,
\npower blackouts in many parts of the province, higher prices of
\nstaple foods and an overall slump in business.<\/p>\n
In villages like Pulo Ara, located in Bireuen regency -- one
\nof GAM's strongholds -- living under martial law can often mean
\ngetting very close to the actual combat. For rice farmer Saridah,
\nthe sound of gun fighting is all too familiar.<\/p>\n
"The shooting is a bit farther away than usual," she said as
\nshe sat with her children inside her home. "Soldiers come here
\noften, sometimes they chat with us."<\/p>\n
The column of military vehicles that passed through her
\nvillage on Wednesday supplied ammunition to the front line,
\nwhich, one soldier said, was located five kilometers further down
\nthe gravel road.<\/p>\n
They stopped at Pulo Ara for a quick sweep for rebels. Marines
\ntook up positions behind trees on both sides of the road and the
\nhouses just beyond, aiming into the woods. But no shot was fired
\ntoday.<\/p>\n
GAM still retains some influence in villages like Pulo Ara in
\nBireuen. Locals are often torn between obeying the Indonesian
\nauthorities or the rebels. Both sides can be demanding.<\/p>\n
Nazar Yusuf, a resident of Blang Mane village in Bireuen, lost
\nhis identity card to GAM rebels. The rebels collect the cards to
\nhamper authorities's efforts in hunting down rebels, most of whom
\ndo not have IDs.<\/p>\n
For this, however, 43-year-old Nazar could have gotten into
\ngrave trouble, had he not had his driver's license to show to
\nmarines who manned checkpoints along the main road between
\nprovincial capital Banda Aceh and Lhokseumawe, stopping and
\nsearching vehicles as they passed through. He said a group of
\nabout 10 GAM rebels took away his ID card on Monday.<\/p>\n
Between towns, security checks are also frequent. Vehicles
\nplying the Banda Aceh-Lhokseumawe route must pass through over a
\ndozen police and military posts.<\/p>\n
Located away from stray bullets and the chances of coming
\nacross a GAM rebel, towns are a much safer place to be.<\/p>\n
Still, martial law has impacted the daily routine here as
\nwell. Random security checks can be annoying and intimidating,
\nand although the martial law administration has not imposed any
\ncurfews yet, people refrain from venturing out late at night.<\/p>\n
Even in the capital of Banda Aceh, the streets already look
\ndeserted at about 8.00 p.m. The shorter nights cast a pall over
\nbusinesses, as shops close about one to two hours earlier than
\nusual. In the town of Lhokseumawe, where the military has set up
\nits command center, people hurry back to their homes at around
\n6.30 p.m.<\/p>\n
Abdul Munir, who drives a motorcycle-pulled rickshaw, known
\nlocally as becak mesin, said that he used to be able to pick up
\npassengers and drive them anywhere in town. Since martial law was
\nimposed, however, he did not dare wait for passengers into the
\nearly morning like before.<\/p>\n
He said his average daily income used to be Rp 40,000 (US$4.8)
\na day, but now, "It's hard to earn even Rp 20,000," he said,
\nsitting on the beach in front of his shack.<\/p>\n
The 42-year-old Abdul is originally from North Sumatra, but
\nwas born in Aceh and now lives amid a community of other migrants
\nfrom Java and Sumatra.<\/p>\n
Other shop owners report a similar slump, complaining that
\nfewer visitors have come to Lhokseumawe since the province came
\nunder martial law.<\/p>\n
For people like Abdul, life has gotten even more difficult
\nwith last week's power blackout. "We are practically making
\nfriends with the mosquitoes and rats that come out at night," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Abdul is among the many who cannot afford to buy a generator,
\nwhich sold out within a matter of hours after the blackout. A new
\nstock of generators was seen arriving at shops on Wednesday amid
\na surge in demand.<\/p>\n
State-owned electricity company PT PLN said it might take up
\nto one month to restore the power in Lhokseumawe. Last week's
\npower outage hit much of northern Aceh, covering the regencies of
\nNorth Aceh, Bireuen and Central Aceh, and parts of Pidie.<\/p>\n
PLN is facing a potential revenue loss of Rp 240 million a
\nday, excluding Rp 1.2 billion in repairs to fix the four pylons
\nthat were allegedly sabotaged by GAM.<\/p>\n
Among those who have benefited from the power outage is an old
\ncouple who has sold kerosene lamps in Lhokseumawe for the past 25
\nyears.<\/p>\n
At only Rp 8,000 a lamp, which burns for many hours, the
\ncommodity is in high demand among those who cannot afford to buy
\na generator, which costs between Rp 900,000 to well over Rp 2
\nmillion.<\/p>\n
But those Acehnese who will benefit from the consequences of
\nthe conflict are few and far between -- for the majority of
\nAcehnese, life will only continue to become harder and harsher
\nthe longer the war goes on.<\/p>",
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