Many survivors may not have gotten aid: NGOs<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
Concerns remained on Sunday that an unknown number of tsunami
\nsurvivors in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam have either not received
\nany aid or have not enough aid, including many in the provincial
\ncapital city, two weeks after the disaster that killed more than
\n110,000 people there.<\/p>\n
As officials and volunteers were focusing on relief work for
\nvictims at refugee camps, some 200,000 survivors living at homes
\nof relatives and friends across Aceh were denied regular supplies
\nof aid.<\/p>\n
These refugees were not recorded by the government as they
\nhave been living outside refugee camps.<\/p>\n
\"The government channels food assistance to the chief of our
\nneighborhood and the chief distributes the aid to us,\" said a
\nresident in Keutapang subdistrict, Banda Aceh, who houses at
\nleast 50 refugees from eight families.<\/p>\n
However up until Sunday, the families had only received 15
\nkilograms of rice and several packs of instant noodles, she
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Siti Rohana, another resident in Keutapang, who is also
\nproviding a place to stay for her relatives and other victims,
\nconfirmed there was a shortage of food for them.<\/p>\n
Because of this, several of the refugees living at her home
\nwere forced to leave for refugee camps, she added.<\/p>\n
Aid groups reported that the humanitarian operation has
\ncontinued to gather momentum amid enormous problems of logistics
\nand infrastructure, but conceded some of the most desperate and
\nisolated communities may not have been reached.<\/p>\n
\"It's impossible to estimate how many people we're feeding,\"
\nMaria Theresa De la Cruz, head of relief operations in Indonesia
\nfor the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told AFP.<\/p>\n
\"We don't know whether the food airdropped is distributed in
\nall areas. In some areas it's organized. In other areas, as soon
\nas the helicopter lands, everyone rushes there.\"<\/p>\n
Without anyone on the ground, it is difficult to determine
\nwhether the airdrops are getting to everyone who needs them, De
\nla Cruz said.<\/p>\n
The IOM, which was one of the few foreign non-government
\norganizations operating in Aceh before the Dec. 26 disaster, is
\ncoordinating airdrops to areas cut off by road with the U.S.
\nNavy.<\/p>\n
Another prominent aid group conducting relief missions in
\nAceh, Oxfam, said there were over 100,000 people in 200 makeshift
\nsettlements across the province with populations ranging from 30
\nto more than 3,000.<\/p>\n
Oxfam's regional advocacy coordinator, Mona Latzo, said a lack
\nof coordination among aid groups and the Indonesian government
\nmeant there was no way of knowing how regularly some of the
\nsettlements were receiving aid.<\/p>\n
\"It's likely that many people have not received continued aid.
\nWith over 200 communities, it's very difficult to keep on top of
\nwho is getting what and when,\" Latzo told AFP.<\/p>\n
Latzo said Oxfam was aiming to maintain contacts with a number
\nof settlements, so the people there could be certain of a regular
\nsupply of aid.<\/p>\n
The logistical problems at the two main airports serving as
\nhubs for aid distribution also continued to plague relief
\nefforts.<\/p>\n
The airports -- in Banda Aceh and Medan in North Sumatra --
\nremain overwhelmed by the numbers of planes trying to deliver
\nsupplies, aid groups said.<\/p>\n
Latzo said a flight carrying vital equipment for Oxfam arrived
\nin Medan a week ago, but remained stuck there for five days as
\nthey could not get landing permission at Banda Aceh airport
\nbecause of the massive congestion.<\/p>\n
She said Oxfam eventually decided to bring the equipment in by
\ntruck, a much longer journey that was extended after one vehicle
\nwent missing for two days.<\/p>\n
\"The (aid distribution) situation has improved but we are
\nstill experiencing a good number of challenges and we are trying
\nto be creative and think of many different ways to do our work,\"
\nLatzo said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, survivors receiving regular food and water at camps
\nin and around Banda Aceh were experiencing the next painful stage
\nof their recovery, looking for financial security with their
\nhomes, businesses and livelihoods destroyed.<\/p>\n
\"My life is in a mess now. Unless aid funds come to us
\ndirectly and quickly, we may all have to bury ourselves together
\nwith the dead,\" 20-year-old Anita told AFP as she queued to
\ncollect a bowl of rice and potato at a relief center.<\/p>\n
Anita, who worked in a brick factory that was destroyed in the
\nfloods, said she would need Rp 25 million (US$2,500) to rebuild
\nher house and for other financial assistance.<\/p>\n
\"But if you ask me what's in store in the future, I just don't
\nknow. I don't see any light unless we get some financial aid
\nsoon,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"How long must we stay in these tents by the roadside? It has
\nbeen two weeks since we sought shelter here. We want to go home.
\nBut it has been washed away.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/many-survivors-may-not-have-gotten-aid-ngos-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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