Aceh forum urges revision of blueprint
Aceh forum urges revision of blueprint
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
An Acehnese forum here on Friday criticized the newly issued
blueprint for the reconstruction of Aceh, calling it incomplete.
The blueprint required major revisions in order for the
reconstruction work to focus on human development, added the Aceh
Recovery Forum (ARF) for 10 working groups in the province.
They said the reconstruction master plan, which was recently
handed over by Vice President Jusuf Kalla to the Aceh provincial
administration, was far from comprehensive since it concentrated
too much on physical buildings and little else.
"Aceh has been in dire need of reconstruction since it was
devastated not only by the recent strong earthquakes and tsunamis
but also by a prolonged conflict. Therefore, the reconstruction
plan should be revised to focus on holistic development to pursue
a comprehensive recovery," Umam Hamid, a spokesman for the ARF's
working groups, announced during a press conference.
He said the government should use the reconstruction as
momentum to promote reconciliation of the decades-old separatist
conflict and to win Acehnese hearts by repairing all
infrastructure damaged during the war.
"Besides the recent disaster that killed more 230,000 people
and damaged thousands of houses, mosques, school buildings and
other key infrastructure, thousands of other people had also been
killed and thousands of houses and schools were destroyed as a
direct result of the conflict across the province," he said.
Umam stated that 40 percent of around four million people in
Aceh remained poor because of the prolonged conflict.
He also said the master plan did not have a comprehensive
spatial planning component on how the province should be rebuilt
based on sustainable development and mitigate environmental
damage.
"The master plan is too pragmatic, and makes the assumption
that the problem will be resolved with the reconstruction of
environmentally friendly houses in the affected areas," Umam
said.
The reconstruction, expected to take up to 10 years, could
cost over Rp 67 trillion (US$7.2 billion), most of which would
come from international donors.
Syahrizal, who deals with funding matters, said the master
plan failed to regulate how the rehabilitation and reconstruction
work, slated to start in early June, would be supervised, since
most of the money was from donor countries.
"The master plan should require the establishment of an
independent team to audit and supervise the reconstruction work
to minimize possible financial leakages and to ensure
transparency in the funding," he said.
He added that the plan should also clearly stipulate that some
of the reconstruction funds should be allocated for small- and
medium-sized enterprises to help address Aceh's poverty problem.
Rizal Sukma, a military observer with the Centre for Strategic
and International Studies (CSIS), said the reconstruction funds
should not be used to purchase military equipment, even though
many military assets were also damaged during the disaster.
"Aceh has no account for military equipment and assets damaged
during the disaster and according to Law No. 34/2004 on
Indonesian Military. The procurement of military equipment is
conducted through the state budget," he said.
According to Umam, State Minister for National Development
Planning Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who also chairs the National
Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), agreed in a meeting with
the 10 working groups that the master plan needed revisions due
to its weak points.
"We hope the government will listen to the people's
aspirations, so the reconstruction work will establish a
permanent and comprehensive solution for Aceh," Umam said.