Aceh village staff serve residents in simple tent office

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

A tent measuring three-by-three meters is erected on top of the rubble on the side of the road from Banda Aceh to Krueng Raya. A small desk, a typewriter and several neatly arranged documents in a blue plastic holder are all that the tent holds. Guests have to sit on a small mat because there are no chairs.

This is the administrative office for Cadek village in Baitussalam district, Aceh Besar, one of the many villages devastated in the December tsunami. In this makeshift office, village officials attend to the needs of villagers.

Before the tsunami, the population of Cadek was about 1,800. Now only 432 residents remain, consisting of 178 families. Most of the remaining residents, including the village chief and secretary, perished in the earthquake and tsunami.

New village officials were selected by the surviving residents, and are known as "tsunami officials".

The makeshift office was set up a month after the disaster.

"Every day there is someone here who needs to arrange some documents," the new village secretary, T. Iskandar, told The Jakarta Post.

From their small tent, the village administrative staff perform various services like arranging death certificates, inheritance letters, letters stating the loss of belongings and requests for new ID cards.

"The most frequent requests are from people requiring replacement ID cards. Because it is still an emergency situation, the ID cards are ready in just two days," said Iskandar.

Before the new office got up and running, the officials procured letterheads and a village administrative stamp.

Surviving residents are working to build a more permanent village office from wood and corrugated tin recovered from houses and buildings destroyed in the tsunami.

"The village office will possibly move to this new building soon," said a village figure, Muhammad Husain, 67.

Surviving residents scattered about in different shelters for displaced people can still visit the makeshift office for assistance.

"We are sure that many surviving Cadek residents still do not know there is a village office, even though it is just a tent," said Iskandar.

Not only is the village office serving Cadek residents, but is also helping residents of at least 107 other villages in Aceh Besar who have no where else to turn.