The Aceh Tsunami catastrophe one year after<\/p>\n
Andrew Steele, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The wagons are already circling. In just over one month,
\nswarms of journalists and humanitarian icons spanning from U2's
\nBono to former U.S. President Bill Clinton will descend on Aceh
\nto take stock of the recovery and reconstruction efforts that
\nhave occurred in the wake of last December's tsunami. Field vests
\nwill be dusted off and parachuting pundits will arrive prepared
\nto pass judgment on a situation with which they have had only
\nfleeting familiarity and no direct observations since their
\nimmediate post-tsunami visit.<\/p>\n
Given the unprecedented US$4 billion in donations and the more
\nthan 200 non-governmental organizations working in Aceh now, the
\ninternational community is expecting results. In Jakarta, aid
\nworkers who have been central to the process from the outset are
\npreparing for a negative assessment of the relief work to date.
\nThat stems mainly, they say, from the rosy estimations laid down
\nlast year regarding where the rebuilding of Aceh would be after
\none year.<\/p>\n
\"No one in January would have thought the people in tents then
\nwould still be in tents 10 months later,\" admits one World Bank
\nofficial in Jakarta. But to cite that as a failure on the part of
\nrelief workers, including the Indonesian government's own
\nRehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) for Aceh and Nias,
\nis unfair at best.<\/p>\n
The unrealistic expectations and overly optimistic projections
\nthat pervaded the dialogue last year should not be used as a
\nbenchmark for judging the reconstruction efforts. Those that have
\nnot witnessed the efforts day in and day out should tread lightly
\nand consider the unforeseen obstacles that have impeded efforts
\nbefore they denigrate the process.<\/p>\n
There certainly have been speed bumps that could have been
\navoided; for example, to date there is still no formalized
\nmonitoring of the rebuilding of homes by international aid
\ngroups. That has allowed for occasional shoddy construction and
\nhas led to jealousy among villagers regarding the differences
\namong homes being built. Some villages have actually rejected
\nnewly built homes. Also, relief groups have at times competed
\nwith one another where coordination would have been more
\nappropriate.<\/p>\n
For sure, the Indonesian bureaucracy is a problem, too. The
\nred tape is often exhausting, aid workers say. And the government
\nat times seems to lack a sense of urgency. It also has no system
\nto disperse emergency funds efficiently.<\/p>\n
Let us not forget what the reconstruction entailed, however.
\nThe death count, according to the UN, sits at 131,000 with
\nanother 37,000 unaccounted for, and tsunami costs are estimated
\nat US$5.1 billion. Furthermore, there are few roads to bring
\nsupplies in and there is no working port. The cost of sending
\nsupply ships into Aceh is inflated, as they have no cargo to pick
\nup to finance the return voyage.<\/p>\n
The decades-long insurgency in Aceh that the tsunami
\ninterrupted leads to the only appropriate analogy that comes
\nclose to capturing the magnitude of the resuscitation of Aceh:
\nthat of a post-war reconstruction. Under these circumstances, the
\nIndonesian government, the BRR, and aid agencies like the World
\nFood Programme deserve serious accolades.<\/p>\n
There have been major successes in the relief efforts to date.
\nThe Indonesian government managed the initial stages very well
\nand buried the bodies in a timely manner, staving off a second
\ncrisis that could have resulted from disease. There also have not
\nbeen issues of starvation to date. Houses are now being built at
\na faster pace than at any time to date, and the health care and
\neducation services might even be better now than they were before
\nthe tsunami.<\/p>\n
That said, the reconstruction efforts are hardly out of the
\nwoods. This has aid agencies worried that donor fatigue may set
\nin with Aceh. Given the other disasters that have occurred since
\nlast year, including Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the
\nearthquake in Pakistan that killed some 70,000 people, available
\nfunds are going to be increasingly scarce.<\/p>\n
It will be easy for the press corps to look around and see
\nthat a vibrant and prosperous city has not sprung up in the last
\nyear. The devastation in Aceh, however, is unprecedented in the
\nmodern era; appraisals of the recovery effort have no analogous
\nhistorical precedents. The work done thus far in rebuilding Aceh
\nmust be judged as a unique response to a unique disaster. Let the
\nnews accounts of Aceh's condition after one year reflect the
\nenormity of the task at hand rather than the unrealistic goals
\noffered in the immediate post-tsunami period.<\/p>\n
The writer is the Managing Editor of the Van Zorge Report. He
\ncan be reached at asteele@vzh.co.id.<\/p>",
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