Meulaboh survivors at desperation point<\/p>\n
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Meulaboh<\/p>\n
The sun rose in Meulaboh, the capital of isolated West Aceh
\nregency, to reveal that almost 70 percent of the buildings,
\nparticularly those two kilometers from the coastline, had been
\nwashed away by last Sunday's tsunami.<\/p>\n
Soldiers and their families were looking for loved ones and
\nvaluables amid the rubble of Teuku Umar Military Resort Hospital
\nand military housing complex, only a few meters from the shore.
\nOthers troops were combing the area for the corpse of the wife a
\nmiddle-ranking intelligence officer, which was believed to be
\nburied under the debris of her house.<\/p>\n
Moments later, a crowd of disheveled people staying in refugee
\ncamps on higher ground descended on the town and started
\nscavenging for food. Some scoured through the debris, while
\nothers checked inside stores that had withstood the tidal wave.<\/p>\n
The people wore masks while walking down the street, which was
\nlittered with corpses, many of them decomposing.<\/p>\n
Bujang, 32, was among the residents who returned to collect
\nwhat was left five days after the tsunami hit the area. He combed
\nthrough his house in Panggung subdistrict, Johan Pahlawan
\ndistrict, which was among the areas hardest hit by the disaster.<\/p>\n
Meulaboh, where 10,000 people are feared dead, remained
\ninaccessible to humanitarian aid missions until Thursday.<\/p>\n
Since the disaster struck his town, Bujang has lived with his
\nwife in a refugee camp in Lapang, some five kilometers from the
\nMeulaboh coastline.<\/p>\n
\"I have nothing left. The tsunami has destroyed our lives,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
A group people were picking up others' belongings on Friday.<\/p>\n
A 39 female resident in Nibo subdistrict, some three
\nkilometers from the Meulaboh shore, admitted to collecting two
\nplastic bag-loads of toothpaste, cooking utensils, soap and other
\ndaily necessities. Her house had been inundated by chest-high
\nseawater.<\/p>\n
\"Our belongings have all gone and we need to survive. The
\ngoods I took were left by the owners, who are probably dead,\"
\nsaid the woman, who is staying at a refugee camp in Lapang
\nsubdistrict.<\/p>\n
A 21-year-old resident of Pasir Pinang subdistrict, also in
\nJohan Pahlawan district, was using a pedicab to collect goods.<\/p>\n
\"Nobody is preventing us from picking up things out of the
\nrubble. I rarely see police here,\" he said when asked whether he
\nfelt guilty or afraid of the police.<\/p>\n
Anwar, 40, a shop assistant, said scavenging was rampant
\nduring the first three days after the disaster. Most of the
\nscavengers took food, clothes, cooking utensils and fuel from
\nempty shops and grocers.<\/p>\n
Several other people carried away air conditioners and fans on
\nFriday. One man took a new motorcycle from a showroom.<\/p>\n
Some soldiers, heavily armed, paid no attention to those
\ncarrying away goods as they were busy organizing locals removing
\ncorpses.<\/p>\n
Sgt. Maj. Soetikno said no arrests had been made by security
\npersonnel as no thieves had been identified.<\/p>\n
\"We will arrest them. The law must be upheld no matter what,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Limited food aid was dropped from the air in the first three
\ndays after the calamity. The town was isolated after many bridges
\ncollapsed following the earthquake and ensuing tsunami.<\/p>\n
\"Many people are hungry and need help, but there are no
\ngovernment officials lending a hand. They lured people during the
\nelection, but where are they now?\" said Zulkifli, a resident of
\nUjung Baru subdistrict.<\/p>",
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