Aceh's outlook for 2006 and a refugee's hope

Aceh's outlook for 2006 and a refugee's hope

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh

Salmiati (43), a refugee in the village of Mon Ikeun in Aceh
Besar regency, said she had grown weary of living in a tent.

It had just rained in the settlement. The ground around her
tent was muddy and she was trying in vain to clean her leaking
shelter.

The widow shares the abode with her two children. Their father
perished as he was swept away by the tsunami a year ago. She
continues, after all these months, to dwell in her grubby tent,
even though there have been billions of dollars donated from
around the world for real homes.

"Will I still be here next year? Should I continue to depend
on donors' mercy? Will there be any change?" lamented Salmiati.
These are some intriguing questions to raise as the year winds
down and the one-year anniversary of the disaster rapidly
approaches.

Prior to the Dec. 26 tsunami, 1.2 million out of Aceh's 4.2
million population were categorized as poor. This total has
increased to 2.2 million following the tragedy. So far, at least
500,000 survivors have become refugees in their homeland like
Salmiati.

Nobody can predict whether the improvements for post-tsunami
and post-conflict Aceh will be fast or slow in the coming year.

After a year, most victims of the tsunami in Aceh remain
homeless. A large number of survivors are living in tents or
crammed into small, temporary barracks.

Similarly, lots of coastal refugees are facing potable water
shortages and are forced to consume water with a high level of
salinity, while numerous children attend school in makeshift
classes or in the ruins of a partially functioning facility.

This situation is in marked contrast to the presence of 150
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Aceh, with their diverse
areas of operation ranging from housing and education to trauma
handling and food provision.

Throughout 2005, the large number of foreign aid agencies and
NGOs has also increased inflation in Aceh to the highest level in
Indonesia. Prices of goods and services are soaring and beyond
the reach of most Acehnese, who now live under the poverty line.

The Aceh rehabilitation and reconstruction agency (BRR) has
been slow and less-than-successful this year.

Set up to coordinate all groups working to rebuild Aceh, the
government agency seems to be overwhelmed and many things have
escaped its officials' attention, including the daily tears of
the exhausted tent dwellers.

Even though reconstruction is going at a snail's pace, they
still cannot manage to facilitate proper coordination between the
groups operating in the devastated region.

Some anticorruption NGOs have also spoken out against the
BRR's bureaucrats, accusing them of being less than sensitive to
Aceh's post-tsunami circumstances, while enjoying outrageously
high salaries in spite of their ineffective performance.

Frustration among the displaced families is also noticeable as
the year comes to a close. Four out of five displaced people
conceded that they no longer trusted NGOs or the BRR, both of
which they said were guilty of making promises that were never
fulfilled.

In 2006, Aceh's improving or deteriorating conditions depend
on how the BRR, along with the NGOs and foreign aid groups, doing
their jobs in a much more efficient way.

Amid the various issues Aceh encountered in 2005, some fresh
air has been brought to the conflict-fatigued populace. A peace
agreement between Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) was
signed on August 15, 2005 in Helsinki.

Conflict is no longer a daily feature so the "security
situation" can no longer be an excuse for the slow pace of
reconstruction. Now there is no excuse for underdevelopment.
GAM's weapons have been destroyed and thousands of members of
non-local security forces have been withdrawn from Aceh.

The atmosphere of peace is all around and that should be able
to speed up Aceh's post-disaster rehabilitation.

GAM figures will definitely appear in the April 2006 general
elections to compete for their seats with party activists who
have much more experience in party/election politics. GAM's
struggle will change, starting with convincing voters to cast
their ballots for them.

Understandably, GAM wishes to enjoy the fruits of the peace
accord. But its leaders will have to work extra hard as they go
head to head with seasoned politicians, with large, national
political machines behind them.

The year 2006 indeed remains vague for Aceh, but many people
here share the hope that significant transformation will take
place, which should of course involve ordinary people --
especially tsunami and conflict victims. It is possible in terms
of money, one need not be a mathematician to work out that there
is more than enough money available to rebuild this province.

"I want to see more progress in Aceh, especially among people
like us, with proper housing and schooling for all. But is it
possible?" queried Salmiati as the sky darkened. Salmiati is not
alone in cherishing this hope.

The writer is a correspondent of The Jakarta Post.