Aceh bureaucracy back in action less 900 employess

Aceh bureaucracy back in action less 900 employess

Ruslan Sangaji, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Nearly two weeks after an earthquake and ensuing tsunamis hit
Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam on Dec. 26, the Aceh gubernatorial
office recommenced its activities on Thursday.

Only 468 civil servants attended a modest ceremony in the
office's front yard, held to mark the first day back of the Aceh
administration.

Before the ceremony, they hugged each other and cried, as the
fate of some 900 of their colleagues, or almost two thirds of
Aceh's civil servants, remains unknown.

The ceremony was also attended by 200 senior students (praja)
of the Jakarta-based Home Affairs Administration Institute
(IPDN), who have been assigned by the central government to help
revive the administration after the catastrophe that killed more
than 94,000 people in Indonesia, mostly in Aceh.

The home affairs ministry has also assigned a number of
middle-ranking officials to support the Aceh administration.

Aceh Deputy Governor Azwar Abubakar, who led the ceremony,
said that the resumption of the administration's activities would
help the oil and gas-rich province return to normal life.

"Thank God, some 60 percent of the office building can be used
(for work)," he said, referring to the Aceh gubernatorial office
in the provincial capital, which is located some six kilometers
away from the coast.

A wall of water from the tsunamis inundated the first floor of
the office, destroying documents and equipment belonging to the
finance bureau.

However, the office's second and third floors escaped damage,
as did documents and office equipment located on those floors.

Azwar said his administration would perform its duties on the
second and third floors.

Elsewhere in Banda Aceh, the number of motorcycles and cars on
the capital's main roads had started to increase on Thursday.
Several markets, shops and coffee stalls reopened, attracting
crowds.

"I'm confused about what to do. But what I know is that we
must be able to endure these difficulties, we must go on,"
Sudirman, a butcher who has reopened his off-street meat stall,
was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Several tremors on Thursday caused panic among the people, who
vowed to survive and rebuild their lives.

Meanwhile, volunteers and soldiers continue their efforts to
evacuate bodies. According to an official in Aceh, as many as
74,666 bodies had been buried as of Thursday morning.

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab -- who
has been assigned by the President to stay in Banda Aceh to
oversee relief work -- predicted more dead victims under building
debris and logs in several locations in the city that had not yet
been touched.

Alwi said the government has also decided to increase ferry
trips between Singkil in nearby North Sumatra and Simelue island
from twice a week to three times a week in a bid to distribute
aid to the island, which is located the closest to the epicenter
of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake.