Making money off the tsunami, from black market to multinational<\/p>\n
Jocelyn Gecker, Associated Press\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
For those looking to make a buck, head to tsunami-wrecked
\nSumatra, says Indonesian entrepreneur Sigip Samsu. He rushed
\nthere in the wake of the disaster and hasn't stopped reaping the
\nbenefits of a land in need of plenty.<\/p>\n
Samsu moved his helicopter charter service to Sumatra just
\nafter the Dec. 26 disaster and has been booked solid by aid
\nagencies, journalists and \"businessmen looking for
\nopportunities.\" Few flinch at his fee of up to US$1,500 per hour.<\/p>\n
\"We are fully booked,\" Samsu says of his shuttle service from
\nthe Sumatran city of Medan into hard-hit Aceh province. \"It's the
\nbusiness of the future.\"<\/p>\n
This disaster, like others before it, has its long list of
\nprofiteers. Some are black market vendors making money off
\nmisery: pirated DVDs of the tsunami's real-life horror show are
\nnow on sale in Indonesia, Thailand and India.<\/p>\n
Then, there are people and companies making legitimate profit
\nfrom the business of disaster relief.<\/p>\n
Aid agencies distributing critical food and medical supplies
\nare doing much of their buying locally -- pumping millions of
\ndollars into companies that make the dried noodles, rice, mineral
\nwater and medicine that gets handed out to survivors.<\/p>\n
USAID, the American government's foreign aid agency, has spent
\nUS$39 million in Indonesia since the disaster struck, spokeswoman
\nRoberta Rossi said by telephone from Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
Buying supplies is only part of the expense. Cartons of aid
\nneed to be delivered in vehicles, and the agency allocated US$1
\nmillion just to cover the rental of 80 trucks and drivers, Rossi
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Acehnese who speak English are in high demand by aid agencies
\nand journalists who need translators. The going rate is US$50 a
\nday -- the rough equivalent of a civil servant's monthly wage in
\npre-disaster Aceh.<\/p>\n
Other basic expenses for outsiders in Aceh include drivers,
\nabout US$60 a day, and housing. Most aid agencies and media have
\nsettled in an upper-class Banda Aceh neighborhood untouched by
\nthe disaster, where current market rents rival those of New York
\nCity.<\/p>\n
The rent for a two-bedroom home that previously cost the
\nequivalent of a few hundred U.S. dollars has soared as high as
\nUS$5,000 a month.<\/p>\n
The big work remains ahead -- the rebuilding of bridges, homes
\nand full city blocks of cement buildings that collapsed. Millions
\nof dollars in aid donations are earmarked for the rebuilding
\nphase.<\/p>\n
Indonesian companies specializing in infrastructure, cement
\nand heavy-equipment have seen share prices soar.<\/p>\n
Since Dec. 26, the share price of Adhi Karya, a majority
\nstate-owned construction firm specializing in building bridges
\nand roads, has jumped 39 percent; while heavy equipment
\nspecialist United Tractors has seen its stock price jump 16
\npercent. Overall infrastructure-related firms are outperforming
\nthe Jakarta stock exchange index, which has risen only 3 percent
\nover the same period.<\/p>\n
\"This will be a year of construction,\" said Baradita Katopo,
\nhead of research and Kim Eng Securities. \"Many firms are already
\nbenefiting from Aceh.\"<\/p>\n
Local and international telecommunications companies are also
\nraking in money from the increased traffic of aid workers and
\njournalists chatting for hours on mobile phones and satellite
\nsystems.<\/p>\n
The Thuraya satellite phone company, widely used across the
\nMiddle East and Africa, is accelerating previous plans to boost
\ncoverage in Asia.<\/p>\n
Samsu, the helicopter pilot, said many of his clients worked
\nfor telecommunications firms. Some rented his helicopter on 20-
\nhour contracts. The 44-year-old entrepreneur who transferred to
\nSumatra from Jakarta said he's in such high demand he often sends
\nprospective clients to his competitors.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's debt-ridden national airline, Garuda, was
\nexperiencing booming business.<\/p>\n
Banda Aceh's once sleepy airport transformed into an
\ninternational hub for relief workers, with thousands of aid
\nworkers needing flights.<\/p>\n
Garuda, which had previously operated two flights a day into
\nBanda Aceh, increased its service to as many as 10 flights daily,
\nsaid airline spokesman Pujobroto, who goes by a single name.
\nInternational conglomerates have given tons of aid to tsunami-
\nstricken countries -- and would prefer to focus on that rather
\nthan tsunami-related revenue.<\/p>\n
Danone, the food and drink conglomerate, has donated 1 million
\nbottles of its mineral water Aqua, the top-selling bottled water
\nin Indonesia. It has also given 1 million packs of Danone
\nbiscuits and 400,000 bottles of milk -- though that is just a
\nfraction of the Danone products purchased by aid workers for
\ndistribution.<\/p>\n
Stefanus Felix, a spokesman, said Danone was selling its
\nproducts at a \"special price\" to humanitarian groups but declined
\nto elaborate.<\/p>\n
\"Talking about business in a situation like this,\" he said, \"I
\ndon't think it's appropriate.\"<\/p>",
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