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.