Bappenas finalizing post-tsunami Aceh blueprint
Bappenas finalizing post-tsunami Aceh blueprint
Urip Hudiono
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The government hopes to finish within a week its final draft of
the reconstruction blueprint for the tsunami-stricken Nanggroe
Aceh Darussalam province, before discussing it further with the
House of Representatives, a senior economics minister said.
State Minister for National Development Planning Sri Mulyani
Indrawati said on Monday that the government still needed to
consider several aspects of the blueprint, particularly in
determining its legal basis, fine tuning spatial planning in the
areas concerned, and deciding which infrastructure projects in
the blueprint would be prioritized.
Sri Mulyani was supposed to hold a consultative meeting with
the House of Representatives' finance commission to present the
government's final draft of the blueprint.
"The Commission has, however, decided to adjourn the meeting
to give us more time in preparing the final draft," she said.
The government plans to begin the reconstruction phase in Aceh
and parts of North Sumatra on March 26. The cost is expected to
reach up to Rp 10 trillion for this year alone, and Rp 45
trillion (US$4.8 billion) over the next five years.
On the legal aspects of the blueprint, Sri Mulyani said the
government was still deciding on whether the blueprint would be
issued in the form of a Presidential Decree or a Government
Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perpu), as previously suggested.
"This is crucial for providing a specific legal basis during the
implementation stage," she said. "The final decision on the
matter will, however, be consulted with the House when we present
the final draft of the blueprint to them."
The government had planned to set up a special Aceh Authority
(BOA) to manage and carry out the reconstruction phase.
The House' approval for the blueprint, Sri added, was also
important as the reconstruction phase would be financed out of
the state budget.
"Donor funds in grants and soft loans, and their disbursement,
will mean a revision of the budget revenue and expenditure
accounts, which will also need the House's approval," she said.
In the meantime, the government has commenced work on minor
infrastructure projects, including constructing barracks for the
displaced, repairing lightly damaged roads, and reestablishing
education and health services during the emergency response
period and the reconstruction phase.
"We will continue to focus on such rehabilitation projects so
that people in the area can get back to normal and restart their
daily activities," she said.
Elsewhere, Minister of Public Works Djoko Kirmanto told the
House's Commission V for public works, housing, transportation
and telecommunications that his ministry was still working with
the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) on drafting
the blueprint.
Djoko explained that his ministry still needed Rp 590 billion
to clean up rubble and debris, Rp 660 billion for the
construction of 1,548 barracks for the displaced, and Rp 100
billion for support facilities for the rehabilitation programs.