Acehnese students want BRR out

BANDA ACEH: Acehnese students staged a peaceful protest on Monday demanding that the government dissolve the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias (BRR) since it had failed to perform its mission.

The protest's coordinator, Mukhtar Efendi, said the agency failed to fulfill tsunami victims' expectations since many were still living in makeshift tents and eating only instant noodles while they are soon to observe the fasting month of Ramadhan and celebrate Idul Fitri.

On the other hand, he said, the agency has received Rp 4 trillion (US$400 million) out of the Rp 47 trillion pledged by donor countries fund to reconstruct Aceh and Nias.

"Four trillion rupiah is not a small sum of money, it's more than the Aceh provincial budget. Not to mention the funds coming from the state budget and debt moratorium," he said.

Instead, he claimed that BRR spent more on their own interests, such as spending Rp 371 billion to pay for their employees.

"BRR is irrational in managing its budget to deal with the tsunami victims in Aceh. A BRR employee is getting paid millions of rupiah every month while a tsunami victim is expected to subsist on only Rp 90,000 a month," Mukhtar said. -- JP