Agency admits slow work in Aceh, Nias

Agency admits slow work in Aceh, Nias

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Despite considerable progress, the Reconstruction and
Rehabilitation Agency (BRR) for Aceh and Nias has been facing
numerous technical and administrative obstacles that make the
reconstruction and rehabilitation work slow in the disaster-
devastated region.

BRR representative in Jakarta Heru Prasetyo said the lengthy
planning and the lack of government focus on the emergency
condition in the two affected areas had been contributing factors
in the slow reconstruction and rehabilitation work.

"Initially, the ministers involved in the reconstruction and
rehabilitation efforts treated the problems in the two regions as
routine work, while the two regions are absolutely in an
emergency condition," he said in a press conference here on
Friday.

Several donor countries and international aid agencies have
criticized the reconstruction and rehabilitation work as too slow
as some 500,000 survivors of the Dec. 26 tsunami in Aceh are
still living in camps, tents and barracks and a bigger part of
school-age children are still studying in children's centers.

The head of BRR office in Aceh, Said Faisal, said that BRR and
state-owned construction companies have spent a long time in
preparing the housing and school projects.

"The housing projects have to obtain a permit from the
authorities, while the construction of houses have to be planned
in consultation with survivors. All this takes a lot of time," he
said.

BRR's fund management head Amin Subekti said that "technical
hurdles" in the disbursement of necessary funds has also
contributed to the slow reconstruction work.

"Both donor countries and the government are committed to
disbursing funds in phases. Funds are disbursed after proposed
projects are approved and this mechanism takes a long time," he
said.

He said that donor countries had pledged a total of US$7.1
billion for the reconstruction and rehabilitation work, but so
far only $3.6 billion was effectively available.

To help cope with the technical and bureaucratic hurdles, BRR
will set up a special trust fund called the Reconstruction of
Aceh and Nias Trust Fund (RANTF).

"We are trying to cut short the process between sources of
funds to the implementation in the field without sacrificing
accountability and transparency," said Heru.

Six months after the agency was set up, more than 10,000 units
of the planned 76,000 houses have already been constructed in
Aceh, while the rebuilding of almost 20,000 units is now in
progress.

The BRR has also built six of nine planned hospitals, six of
30 planned public health centers, 119 of the 366 planned school
buildings.

The BRR is still carrying out road and seaport rehabilitation
projects in Aceh Besar, Aceh Jaya and West Aceh.