Aceh business gets back on track

Aceh business gets back on track

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh

Dozens of people from all walks of life were busy shopping or
dining out with their partners or friends in Banda Aceh's popular
Neusu district.

When the tsunami swept Aceh and North Sumatra on Dec. 26,
Banda Aceh suffered catastrophic losses, with several busy
districts on the West side, including Pasar Aceh market and
Penayung, being destroyed. However, Neusu, along with several
other areas in the East like Lambaro, Keutapang and Simpang
Surabaya, were left untouched.

Halimah, 46, a restaurant owner in Neusu, smiled as she
welcomed families and couples into her restaurant that serves
traditional Acehnese food, with her employees busily preparing
orders for waiting diners.

"Business gets better everyday. It's even better than before
the tsunami, maybe because so many restaurants in other parts of
the city were destroyed, and people come here because they have
no choice," Halimah told The Jakarta Post.

She said that very soon she would have start adding employees
to help tend the increasing number of customers, most of whom
were Javanese and foreigners rather than local people.

"We can bring in Rp 800,000 (US$86) per day now, while before
the tsunami we could only get around Rp 400,000," she said.

In Simpang Surabaya most coffee shops and restaurants were
also crowded with diners.

Owner of the Aceh Jaya Restaurant, Sarbini, 30, said his sales
had increased slightly in the post-tsunami period, thanks to
revived business activities in the area, as well as fewer
competitors.

Before the disaster struck he could gross Rp 600,00 a day.
Now he brings in Rp 700,000.

"Ten days after the tsunami we were still closed as I lost
several family members and some workers. I thought it would be
hard to start the business again, but I was wrong," he said.

Now, all of his five employees are new people, and all of them
suffered the effects of the tsunami.

Some Banda Aceh residents are civil servants working for the
city administration, while many other residents work in the
informal sector. Even fewer residents work for private companies
as only a few have resumed normal operations.

Banda Aceh-based large companies like PT Semen Andalas, which
lost their factories, offices and employees in the disaster, are
now preparing to resume operations.

Aside from restaurants, traditional markets, banks, garment
and cellular phone outlets as well as transportation agencies
have all been busy serving customers.

Flamboyan Perdana, a transportation agency serving two routes
-- Banda Aceh to Medan, and Takengon to Medan -- has fully
resumed operations.

However the agency, which has 20 cars, has had to increase
fares from Rp 70,000 to Rp 100,000 per person following the
scarcity of vehicles and increases in fuel prices.

"The number of passengers is higher than before the tsunami.
We have to find more drivers and assistant drivers to anticipate
the increase in passengers," an agency's employee, Tris, 43, told
the Post.

Currently, the agency employs 20 drivers and 20 assistant
drivers as well as five administration staff.