Aceh 'sea commanders' now high-profile

Ati Nurbaiti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A number of traditional leaders visited the capital last week, and one of them said they were a group of available men because there were now "largely widowers."

If the speaker was trying to break the ice with his audience he didn't manage to draw many smiles: The Acehnese men had lost their wives to the horrific waves of the December tsunami.

They are part of Aceh's "commanders of the sea", the panglima laot or chieftains of the coastal and fishing communities -- some of Indonesia's lesser-known traditional institutions because of decades of uniformity of government structures.

And like the raja of the Maluku province who became more recognized after bloody conflicts tore the islands apart, the role of these panglima are now emerging after the latest crisis affecting Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

The "commanders" were here last Tuesday in a discussion on local capacity building. It was one of many talks held during an exhibition at the House of Representatives, where dozens of international and local organizations were displaying their ongoing work in Aceh.

Apart from saying they were available, the leaders had a more serious message, basically being: "Support us only where we need you, and stop harassing us."

It is similar to that heard from other Acehnese these days, in their grumbles, complaints and demands that could not be aired so freely before the tragedy. If anything good came out of the disaster it is that there is now the long-coveted space to speak up free from fear of retaliation, intimidation or harassment, either from authorities or the Free Aceh Movement. The government has now at last lifted the civil emergency status, but it was the natural disaster that swept Acehnese, and hence their voices -- earlier lost to the loudspeakers of the warring parties on their soil -- into the international limelight.

As for the panglima, "We're called commanders but we're not militaristic," Adli Abdullah, one of the men, hastens to clarify. He was addressing a discussion between the commanders and former minister of maritime affairs Sarwono Kusumaatmadja here last Tuesday.

Adli and T. Bustamam, the "commander in chief" of the panglima's provincial organization, explain that the leaders take care of the needs of their communities, and are chosen based on knowledge and experience in fishing and the ways of the sea, "although many are illiterate." None of them, apparently, was however able to predict in time the terrible waves that swept away Bustamam's wife and members of some 80,000 families who depended on fishing, not to mention their boats.

Shortly after the Dec. 26 disaster, the coastal leaders and their neighbors were able to gather whatever remaining resources they had to assist survivors. "We worked with UNDP, providing cash for work for 12,000 people," Adli said.

Their togetherness reflected through their organization (Lembaga Adat Panglima Laot Provinsi Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam) made it easier for outside organizations to assist them. They have even produced their own "blueprint", facilitated among others by environmental foundation Yayasan Laut Lestari Indonesia and the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB).

A few points raised in the book resulting from their meeting in February are those often stressed by Acehnese -- that the billions of dollars donated from the international community should go to those entitled, and that they should be consulted regarding the ongoing rebuilding of their province.

"Don't think we're weak and can be told what to do, we've been through everything," says Adli, the organization's secretary general. He is referring to the life of insecurity that Acehnese are used to, caught in between the military and the rebels since the late 1970s. In the February meeting they said they were simply sick of it.

"We don't need a war against GAM (the Free Aceh Movement); we need a war against poverty," one of them said, as quoted in a report on the online Aceh.kita news agency.

The report cites their experience under the martial law period of 2003 until last year, when boats had to be numbered; they also had to report before and after going to sea, with the authorities saying this was a way to monitor possible mobility of GAM members in the areas.

Historical citations show that the "sea commanders" originated in the days of the early monarchies of the 1600s, when the panglima collected tax among their other duties. Nowadays Adli said fisherpeople depend on these leaders among others in settling disputes among them.

But like other leaders there are good and bad ones, and the fragile conditions given the collapse of traditional institutions under the New Order, even before martial law and the tsunami, paves open the opportunity for anyone abusing the position of the panglima. Local leaders are a lucrative position these days, what with the waves of funds available to help fisherfolk families.

Researchers of the Yappika organization, one of many assisting the Acehnese, say one of their focus of an ongoing study is how far the much toted "public participation" in the plans of rebuilding Aceh is taking place.

Aceh's people and its local institutions must be strengthened, says researcher Isono Sadoko, as the government cannot be expected to take care of everything. But now, "The danger (regarding the attention over Aceh) is a feeling that it's (the crisis) largely over," he said.