Aceh: Focus on people
Aceh: Focus on people
The reconstruction of Aceh moved into a new stage this week
with the completion of military-style barracks to shelter victims
of the Dec. 26 tsunami. Not all the barracks have been completed
but some 3,281 families, or more than 11,000 people, have now
moved from their tents -- that had been their home since the Dec.
26 disaster -- to the more substantial constructions.
More and more of them will be moved out of their tents over
the coming days and weeks as more barracks are completed. The
government estimates that some 100,000 of the estimated 500,000
displaced people will be accommodated in these new facilities.
Others will probably have to linger on in their tents for the
time being, and some will continue living with their relatives
who were not directly affected by the disaster.
As much as we'd like to laud this as a significant development
in the government's program to rebuild Aceh, the barracks are
only marginally better as a place of abode than the tents.
Physically, they are certainly much better, especially since rain
often makes the depressing life inside tents even more miserable.
But as a place to rebuild family and community life, the
barracks, at least the way that they have been designed and
constructed, are unlikely to be much better than the tents.
The barracks provide very little privacy, and this is
absolutely necessary for normal family life to function. The
partitions separating one family from another inside the building
are quite inadequate. Families also have to share amenities, such
as bathrooms and kitchen, with other families in the barracks.
Any joy that the barracks bring to relocated families is
likely to be short-lived once the reality of barracks life sinks
in. Depression, so common in the camps over the past few weeks,
will continue to haunt them.
The government's Aceh reconstruction program puts too much
emphasis on physical aspects and not nearly enough on
psychological aspects. Rebuilding Aceh must ultimately be about
rebuilding the lives of its people. And where better to start
than rebuilding the life of every family in Aceh that has been
shattered by the disaster.
The decision to build the barracks was taken somewhat hastily
when other options, including some that took into consideration
matters of privacy, were clearly available at the time. The
Alumni Association of Gadjah Mada University (KAGAMA), for
example, came up with a proposal to design shelters in clusters
of small houses that give both privacy and a sense of community.
Its proposal was turned down in favor of standardized military-
style barracks, although the KAGAMA plan was as doable and
inexpensive as the barracks.
While it is now too late to change, the lesson from this
episode is that the government's program to rebuild Aceh must
focus on people. Physical constructions must be adapted to the
needs of people, not vice versa. Given the scale of the
destruction, rebuilding Aceh will be a very costly and time
consuming project. But the place to start should be with the
family, then the community, then the entire province.
The barracks are merely very temporary shelters for the
tsunami victims. They are not designed as places for people to
rebuild family life, let alone rebuild communities.
The government must now set itself a deadline as to how long
these people will be expected to live in these military-style
barracks before they are moved to proper places in order to
rebuild their families and communities.