Acehnese bemoan slow reconstruction

Harry Bhaskara, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Translated into numbers, the staggering scale of destruction left by the Dec. 26 tsunami in Aceh and Nias is plain. A total of 800 kilometers of coastal areas with an average width of two kilometers was ground into wasteland by the waves, triggered by the mammoth 9.8-scale earthquake.

Estimates of human life losses range from a conservative but still massive 120,000 to larger assessments of between 200,000 and 300,000 souls including those still missing; a huge toll from the province's population of four million.

With more than 450,000 still homeless, 90,000 living in either tents or refugee camps, the single thing that connects the people in the province is a sense of loss. Most extended families have lost at least one member, many children are orphaned, countless husbands and wives are widowed and in some cases a handful of survivors are the sole inheritors of villages that had populations in the thousands.

In Banda Aceh alone, an estimated 80,000 people, or more than a quarter of its population of 300,000, perished.

For the Acehnese, a people already traumatized by years of separatist conflict, the assistance from Indonesians and the international community has been a godsend.

"I can't imagine what would have happened in Aceh without foreign assistance," says Udin, a 35-year-old civil servant based in Banda Aceh.

"They were prompt and able-bodied. They had the necessary supporting equipment with them," says Mo Li, a shop owner in Banda Aceh.

Any government handling the scale of this disaster would have many headaches, including those in first-world countries. This is especially true of a developing country like Indonesia, and observers are not surprised that for many, post-tsunami life remains difficult.

Nurbaiti, a high-school teacher lost her husband and two of her three children to the waves, which also destroyed her home. She made a plea to government and non-government organizations to speed up their housing construction work.

"Living in the barracks is not easy," says the 48-year-old woman who is staying in a camp in Lamkruet, near Banda Aceh.

There were usually 60 people crammed into a single barracks with about three families living in one room, Nurbaiti said

Lamkruet village head Sulaiman says more than half of the 1,800 villagers in the coastal area perished in the tsunami. While people tried to stay positive, six months of living in displaced persons centers was taking its toll on villagers' morale, he said.

"You have children and pregnant women around. They need a better place to live."

Lamkruet used to be a successful vegetable-producing village but most of its land was now unusable, Sulaiman said.

"People need to find another source of income and starting capital is what they need most."

Rachmayadi used to own public buses in Lampuuk, Lhok Nga, before he lost his wife, a child and his livelihood in the disaster. A well-off man before the tsunami, he says he can't begin again with nothing.

"There must be some kind of a start-up money to begin with," the 52-year-old said.

For those who survive, finding employment is hard. A long-time resident in Aceh estimates that about 70 percent of business were destroyed in the tsunami.

Enayet Madani, a United Nations government liaison officer based in Banda Aceh, says the International Labor Organization was working in Aceh to help try and solve unemployment.

"Many people have been absorbed by the international community (aid agencies)," Madani added, acknowledging that most of these were qualified people.

Muchtar Ali, a tailor from Baet village, on the outskirts of Banda Aceh estimated he would need about Rp 1.4 million to buy a new sewing machine and resume work.

While he is grateful for the handouts provided by the government and NGOs -- food that is usually, rice, instant noodles and canned sardines -- Muchtar says he would like to move on.

"Hopefully, we will soon stop living on ration food. There is not much nutrition in the food, it is not very invigorating."

Six months on, there is still a lot of suffering in Aceh. But there have also been some positives. The fears of starvation and an outbreak of disease that mounted soon after the tsunami have proved to be unfounded.

"Cooperation with the government has been effective since the tsunami," AUSAID foreign affairs representative Allison Sudradjat said.

"There have been no obstructions caused by clashes between the (Free Aceh Movement) rebels and the government troops," she said.

Electricity, telephones and running water have now returned to much of Banda Aceh. The 400-bed Zainal Abidin Public Hospital was also in service less than a week after the tsunami, an effective emergency field hospital staffed by military medical teams from around the world.

Dr. Tjut Maulina, the acting director of the hospital, credits local and international emergency teams along with personalities like Prof. Idrus from Sulawesi for keeping the hospital going.

"So many volunteers came here to help us without being asked. They included military personnel from Australia and Germany. We are very grateful. We wouldn't be running as smoothly as we are today without their assistance," she said.

Currently the hospital is embarking on a US$40 million long- term joint reconstruction program that will include assistance from Germany and Australia, she said.

But while work in Banda Aceh is slowly progressing, much more still needs to be done outside the city.

Observers say the government's move to appoint respected former Cabinet minister Kuntoro Mangkusubroto to head Aceh's reconstruction work is a good sign.

With at least US$7 billion in funds from foreign donors, $2 billion of which has already been received, Kantoro will have plenty of work, probably for years to come.