Many Acehnese still in tents as holiday approaches<\/p>\n
Nani Afrida
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
It was almost dusk on Sunday, but a group of children at the
\nrefugee camp were still playing outside despite the mud after a
\nheavy downpour in Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
It has been 10 months since the tsunami struck, but around 400
\ndisplaced people in the camp at Gano village in Lambaro Skep
\ndistrict in the Aceh capital are still living in tents, most of
\nwhich are torn.<\/p>\n
The problems facing the people here is not confined to wornout
\ntents, but also the fact that the sea often floods their tents,
\nwhich stand only a couple of dozen meters away from the sea,
\nwhile the dam that used to keep the sea at bay, and was destroyed
\nby the tsunami, has not been rebuilt.<\/p>\n
\"We're still stuck in these tents and will spend our Idul Fitri
\nhere. There are no preparations whatsoever for the holiday,\" a
\nyouth, Mukhlis, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Mukhlis and other Gano residents are bracing for the Islamic
\nholiday, which falls on Wednesday and Thursday. To date, there
\nare thousands of tsunami victims in the province who are still
\nresiding in tents as their houses have not been rebuilt or
\nconstruction of their shelters has yet to be completed.<\/p>\n
According to the Aceh Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction
\nAgency (BRR), there will be around 10,000 houses built by the end
\nof the year. The work is being funded by international non-
\ngovernmental organizations (NGOs) and donor countries.<\/p>\n
The number is less than 10 percent of the 110,000 houses
\nrequired by the some 500,000 people displaced by the Dec. 26
\ndisaster.<\/p>\n
An independent research center, the Aceh Institute, has
\npredicted that the BRR will only be able to build 17,812 houses,
\na little over a half of its initial target of 30,000 houses in
\n2005.<\/p>\n
\"Up until now, only 5,820 houses have been built,\" Lukman Age,
\nthe Institute's head of research and analysis, said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The problem, he said, was not only the insufficient supply of
\nbuilding materials, but funding as well since there were two
\nmajor donors that had yet to realize their pledges: the Multi
\nDonor Trust Fund Aceh Nias World Bank (MDTFANS-World Bank) and
\nthe Asian Development Bank (ADB).<\/p>\n
The MDTFANS-World Bank had promised to fund the construction
\nof 25,000 houses while the ADB had sought to build 21,250 houses.<\/p>\n
\"The BRR has done a pretty good job in coordinating the
\nconstruction work. But it has failed to coordinate the
\ndevelopment supposedly funded by the 'big boys',\" Lukman was
\nquoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
The money from MDTFANS, he said, had still not been disbursed.<\/p>\n
The ADB, meanwhile, was still revising its program, with the
\nNational Development Planning Board (Bappenas) saying that the ADB
\nhas not met the requirement of proposing house construction
\nprojects based on the community-driven development concept.<\/p>\n
\"A delay to the major programs will slow the process of
\nrehabilitation and reconstruction in Aceh,\" Lukman said.<\/p>\n
The refugees will have to spend their idul Fitri in tents for
\nthe first time, with no holiday meals, let alone new clothes.<\/p>\n
\"This is just so sad. The aid is not as much as it used to. We
\nnow only depend on the government's subsistence allowance,\" said
\nFarida, a refugee in the Gue Gajah area of Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
With only three days to go to Idul Fitri, the allowances have
\nyet to be disbursed. The government had promised to provide Rp
\n90,000 (around US$9) to each person to enable them to celebrate
\nthe holiday.<\/p>\n
Some donor countries and NGOs have given \"holiday gifts\" for
\nthe refugees, such as the United Arab Emirates which donated a
\ntotal of $160,000. A Turkish NGO, Pasiad, meanwhile, has donated
\n2,000 boxed meals every day during the fasting month.<\/p>",
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