Survivors hired to clean up tsunami debris<\/p>\n
Ruslan Sangadji and Tertiani Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post\/Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
In an effort to beat the government's latest deadline, cleaning
\nup debris and bodies by Jan. 31, tsunami survivors, have been
\nhired to clean up government buildings, schools and hospitals, as
\nwell as residential areas.<\/p>\n
Funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
\nnon-governmental organization Panglima Laot NAD has recruited at
\nleast 3,000 survivors, who started cleaning up the capital city
\non Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"The refugees are paid Rp 30,000 per day, while the
\ncoordinator of each team is paid Rp 35,000,\" Zulfikar, 34, the
\nmanager of Panglima Laot, or sea commander in Acehnese -- an
\norganization concerned with the traditional law and customs of
\nAceh, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.<\/p>\n
The workers were recruited from the coastal villages of Ulee
\nLheu, Lhok Nga, Keudah, Kampung Jawa, Alue Naga and Cade, all in
\nBanda Aceh municipality.<\/p>\n
Muhammad Junelwan of the disaster coordination team based in
\nBanda Aceh said that his team had recruited 50 people from the
\nrefugee camps since Thursday to take away corpses and to clean up
\nthe mud and flotsam inside buildings.<\/p>\n
Also funded by UNDP, the team paid for a variety of equipment
\nfor the cleaners, in addition to providing lunch.<\/p>\n
\"We also provide them with masks, rubber gloves, boots and
\nuniforms,\" Junelwan told the Post.<\/p>\n
The executive director of the disaster coordination team,
\nTarmidzi Karim, said that more refugees would be recruited for
\nthe clean-up operation.<\/p>\n
\"The refugees have to be empowered ... They should be involved
\nin the process to rehabilitate and reconstruct their home
\nprovince,\" said the former North Aceh regent.<\/p>\n
As of Friday, the joint humanitarian task forces in Banda Aceh
\nhad cleaned up most parts of the city and buried at least 36,000
\npeople. \"But we estimate there are 10,000 more dead bodies yet to
\nbe cleared off the streets in Banda Aceh, especially those under
\nthe rubble,\" Alwi added.<\/p>\n
Banda Aceh was the area hardest hit by the devastating tidal
\nwaves triggered by the gigantic quake the day after Christmas.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi
\nShihab, who also heads the Banda Aceh disaster mitigation team,
\nsaid on Friday that authorities had started building semi-
\npermanent shelters at 24 new locations in eight districts across
\nAceh for the internally displaced people.<\/p>\n
The government has begun to procure wooden planks needed to
\nbuild the barracks, public kitchens, sanitation and clean water
\nfacilities, health centers and mosques at the locations, where
\nmany refugees will live for at least one-and-a-half years, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"As for schools, children should not have to study in
\nmakeshift tents. We have to ask the displaced persons to leave
\nthe school buildings where they are currently being sheltered,\"
\nAlwi told the Post.<\/p>\n
He added that the construction of the barracks was expected to
\nbe complete within a month.<\/p>\n
Alwi said the government was now prioritizing the relocation
\nof the refugees as part of efforts to solve many problems now
\nbeing faced by the disaster coordination team, including updating
\nthe death toll and the number of missing people.<\/p>\n
However, Alwi could not detail the government's plans to
\nresettle the displaced persons, whether they should start new
\nvillages near the relocation areas or move back to their home
\nvillages that were destroyed.<\/p>\n
\"Besides our aim is to provide the victims with comfortable
\nliving conditions. The concentration of refugees in several
\naccessible relocation places would also reduce our dependency on
\nthe use of foreign helicopters to distribute relief supplies to
\nremote areas, which is currently handled by foreign military
\nforces.<\/p>\n
\"It's related to the dignity of our nation. we should be
\nindependent in carrying out the humanitarian mission,\" Alwi
\nstated.<\/p>\n
Officials have said they wanted the foreign military forces to
\nleave \"as soon as possible\" while Minister of Foreign Affairs
\nHassan Wirayuda has said that the foreign troops are \"welcome\"
\nand that they should stay as long as they were needed.<\/p>",
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