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.