Aceh fishermen long to be back at sea

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Being a fisherman is in Ibrahim's blood. He is known among Aceh Besar fishermen as Pawang Him, a name to show that the 60-year- old is a veteran compared to the others.

On Dec. 26, he was among 2,000 fishermen who sheltered in Darussalam area in Banda Aceh. On that day his village was destroyed and his wife and children, lost to the tsunamis.

Now, the resident of Lambada village in Mesjid Raya Aceh Besar district works cleaning up the city for Rp 30,000 a day.

Many survivors are loathe even to walk by the ocean, but Pawang Him, an Aceh Besar sea commander, longs to return to his hometown, to take up his fishing net again.

"I still want to go fishing. If I am moved to another place, even if it's close to the sea, I don't want to," he said.

According to Aceh Sea Commander Muhammad Adli Abdullah, the head of the province's sea commanders, there were 173 sea commanders in Aceh before the tsunami hit. But in the disaster, 41 of them died, mostly those living in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar.

"At the time of the disaster, it was much safer for the fishermen at sea rather than on land. Most of the surviving fishermen were those who stayed out at sea," Muhammad Adli said.

Aceh had been home to around 63,000 fishermen, but some 15,000 of them died in the disaster.

As Aceh's sea commander, Muhammad Adli made every effort in the weeks after the tsunami to shelter the surviving fishermen, including Ibrahim. Now, he hopes to help them fish again.

"But the government hasn't involved us in making a decision (over the future of fisherman) although most of the tsunami victims were fishermen," he said.

When the disaster struck, the fishermen did flee to higher ground, but they had no intention of staying.

"We've been fishermen since we were little. No way can we be farmers, or even move to a mountainous area," said Samsul, a fisherman from Lampulo area.

Samsul said he was worried the government would resettle the fishermen in higher areas as Lampulo was devastated by the catastrophe.

Muhammad Adli and other fishermen hoped the government would not come up with a "crazy" plan for the fishermen.

"Just make homes for us and let us fish for a living," Adli said.