Unclear rules mar Aceh's building<\/p>\n
Michael Casey, Associated Press\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Rebuilding tsunami-devastated Aceh province has been slowed by
\nlands rights disputes, poor coordination and unclear policies, a
\ntop UN official said on Friday, forcing nearly 150,000 survivors
\nto live in tents and other emergency shelters nine months after
\nthe disaster.<\/p>\n
\"For the survivors who are in the tents, the conditions are
\nunacceptable. There is no other word for it,\" Eric Morris, the
\nnewly installed U.N. Recovery Coordinator for Aceh and the island
\nof Nias, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n
\"Particularly as we're into the rainy season, the conditions
\nwill deteriorate even more rapidly,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Foreign governments responded quickly to the Dec. 26 tsunami
\nthat killed a staggering 131,000 people in Aceh and left more
\nthan a half-million homeless, pledging billions of dollars to
\nrecovery efforts.<\/p>\n
Thousands of aid workers also flocked to the region to help.
\nBut Morris said the short-term needs of homeless survivors have
\nlargely been overlooked, partly because of political squabbling
\nand government indecision.<\/p>\n
\"There seemed to be a hope that various actors here in Aceh,
\nincluding the government of Indonesia, could move quickly from an
\nemergency shelter to permanent housing,\" he said. \"That has not
\nbeen the case.\"<\/p>\n
His comments came as the United Nations released a draft
\naction plan that called for the construction of 15,000
\nprefabricated homes in Aceh over the next six months for families
\nstill living in tent camps. In the meantime, 27,000 new tents
\nwill be given out to survivors.<\/p>\n
The plan - which will be implemented by the International
\nFederation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and other aid
\ngroups -- also says government-built barracks need water and
\nsanitation and that families who have taken in roughly 300,000
\nsurvivors should be given additional relief supplies.<\/p>\n
A similar conclusion was reached for Nias, where a massive
\nearthquake three months after the tsunami killed nearly 900
\npeople and left 100,000 without shelter.<\/p>\n
\"The world placed its faith in the Red Cross and Red Crescent,
\nthe UN and other aid agencies to care for the health and well-
\nbeing of tsunami survivors,\" says Peter Cameron, the
\nInternational Federation's Deputy Head of Delegation in
\nIndonesia. \"We have a humanitarian mandate to provide the most
\nhumane living conditions possible while we help people rebuild
\ntheir homes and communities.\"<\/p>\n
The building of 100,000 homes in Aceh has taken off in recent
\nmonths, but the United Nations said aid agencies are still facing
\ndelays partly due to disputes over property - titles only exist
\nfor about 5 percent of the land.<\/p>\n
Difficulties getting supplies such as timber and cement into
\nthe province have added to the slow down, it said, as has unclear
\ngovernment policies on rebuilding and poor coordination among the
\nhundreds of aid agencies in Aceh.<\/p>\n
Morris was careful not to blame anyone for the current
\nsituation and acknowledged that the UN's plan should have been
\nissued six months ago.<\/p>\n
\"There is so much focus on rebuilding permanent houses that
\nwe've somehow lost sight of the needs of people living in tents,
\nthe barracks and those living with host families which we know
\nlittle about,\" Morris said.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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