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Govt plans monitoring teams to supervise Aceh reconstruction

Govt open to NGOs and donors in team
to supervise Aceh reconstruction
or
NGOs, donors welcome to join team
to supervise Aceh reconstruction

Tony Hotland
The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh

The government will set up a number of supervisory bodies
tasked with monitoring various reconstruction projects in
tsunami-battered Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, a minister said.

Non-governmental organizations and representatives from donors
would also be included in the monitoring teams.

"This is one of our answers to the many doubts and concerns
about the possible abuse of the funds we receive. All donors will
be free to participate in the reconstruction process as long as
it's in line with the government's rehabilitation blueprint,"
Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare Alwi Shihab, who is
also the head of the mitigation disaster team, said on Saturday.

Donors, local and international, would also be given
opportunities to offer their own project plans, financing
schemes, and even to carry out the projects themselves, but would
have to give priority to the Acehnese as workers.

"Don't get workers from abroad or even from Jakarta. We must
empower the Acehnese to show that this is all about them and
their homeland. If you want to employ constructors, pick local
ones. Or if they want to give the implementation fully to the
Indonesian government, we'll be ready," said Alwi.

Indonesia has often been ranked as one of the most corrupt
nations in the world, most recently by International
Transparency. Observers and experts have urged the central
government to also establish an independent body to manage the
flow of funds and aid received and spent.

Non-governmental organizations will also be invited to join
the supervisory bodies, which will start working once the
government's blueprint for reconstruction and rehabilitation of
Aceh is completed.

The blueprint, currently being drafted by the National
Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), is expected to be
completed in the next four weeks, said Alwi.

To also assure transparency, Alwi added that the government
would make an official announcement about the amount of financial
aid already received from donors and what had been spent. The
announcement will be made on a monthly basis.

Bappenas has calculated that the damage from the Dec. 26
tsunami disaster has reached a whopping US$4.5 billion, and is
currently calculating the funds required to rebuild the province.
The Ministry of Finance estimates it will cost Rp 5 trillion for
this fiscal year alone and the cost may reach up to Rp 30
trillion.

Meanwhile, the latest official data released by the mitigation
disaster team showed that 93,482 dead bodies had been retrieved
and buried as of Saturday morning, while about 100,000 people are
still reported missing.

These figures, however, are far below those estimated by the
Ministry of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Health of over
110,000 and 250,000 respectively.

"We're quite pleased with the aid distribution and relief
efforts going on although there are still several isolated areas
yet to be reached, especially the western coast areas," Alwi
acknowledged.

He said that the government team had also built a storage in
Calang, Aceh Jaya, to provide aid supplies for survivors in
isolated and neighboring areas.

As of Saturday, 54 out of 241 subdistrict administrations were
still not functioning in addition to 647 out of 5,958 village
administrations.