Acehnese get back to business
Acehnese get back to business
Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
Life was beginning to return to something approaching normalcy
in Banda Aceh on Tuesday, barely a month after the deadly tsunami
flattened most of the Aceh capital.
Cars and motorcycles filled the city's main thoroughfares, and
many shops had reopened, in stark contrast to a few weeks ago
when only a handful of stores were seen open in the whole city.
The resumption of normalcy could be seen particularly in Neusu,
where some 90 percent of the shops had reopened.
Fruit vendors have once again set up their stalls on the
city's sidewalks. Two weeks ago, they were only to be found in
the Keutapang, Ulee Kareng and Neusu markets.
In another sign of a return to normal, people are once again
frequenting restaurants and supermarkets.
Susanti, who works in the Panti Pirak supermarket in Neusu,
said that more and more people were coming out to shop.
The 26-year-old said that there had been a dramatic increase
in the number of people coming to the supermarket compared to
pre-tsunami times, apparently due to the large number of
volunteers and aid workers who had come to Aceh after the
disaster.
Meanwhile, the city's civil servants also started to return to
work on Tuesday. Some only showed up to let their superiors know
that they were still alive, while others have actually started to
work again. Some civil servants have been relocated to areas away
from the devastated parts of the city.
Given the unsafe state of the gubernatorial offices, Aceh
deputy governor Azwar Abu Bakar and Aceh provincial secretary
Thantawi Ishak have moved to a building in the compound of the
local agriculture office, located some 700 meters away from the
gubernatorial offices.
"The pillars of the gubernatorial office building have been
unsafe since the earthquake. We are afraid that the building will
collapse if any more quakes hit Banda Aceh," said Thantawi.
To get the wheels of government working again, the deputy
governor instructed all civil servants from the Nanggroe Aceh
Darussalam provincial administration to turn up for a briefing on
Wednesday.
While people have begun to pick up the pieces of their lives
in most parts of the city, a somber mood continued to pervade the
displaced persons' shelters scattered throughout the capital.
Many of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) still only eat
once a day, which has led to concerns among health workers that
they could be left vulnerable to disease.
Moreover, they are still living in tents and have to sleep on
mats on the ground. The IDPs are now eagerly awaiting the
completion of the semi-permanent shelters promised by the central
government. A total of 24 are planned for throughout Aceh, with
seven of them to be located in the capital. But as to when the
shelters will be completed is anyone's guess.
Corpses were still being pulled out of the rubble of buildings
on the outskirts of Banda Aceh on Tuesday -- in such places as
Lhok Nga, Lepung and Lampisang. But the number of volunteers seen
working was considerably smaller than a few weeks ago, with most
of them having already left the stricken province.
The city of Banda Aceh is still covered in clouds of dust as
much of the rubble has yet to be cleared. These piles of rubble
and debris, particularly evident in Darussalam and Ule Lheu
districts, bear silent witness to the leveling of a proud city by
the unstoppable forces of nature.