BRR says pace of rebuilding picking up

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite a slow start, progress has been made in tsunami-ravaged Aceh, with the pace of reconstruction picking up. The 65,000 people still living in tents should be residing in decent housing by the end of 2006, officials said on Thursday.

The head of the Aceh and Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR), Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, said that some 16,200 new homes had been constructed so far and 13,200 are under construction, out of the 110,000 needed.

"The reconstruction effort is now running at an increasingly fast pace. We've built 5,000 houses per month since October. But 65,000 people still live in tents, so yes, we're still slow," he told a news conference as the agency released its one-year progress report.

Kuntoro said the main priority for next year was to provide decent shelter for all the displaced tsunami survivors.

While permanent homes for all those displaced would take more time, 20,000 transitional houses -- with aluminum frames and wooden floors -- will have been erected by early 2006.

The progress report shows the post-tsunami recovery efforts 12 months after an 800-kilometer band of Aceh coastline was devastated by the Dec. 26 disaster, leaving some 230,000 people killed or missing.

BRR, a ministry-level body set up in April to coordinate rebuilding, acknowledged that the government had been sluggish in formulating a response strategy.

More than 65,000 people were still living in tents, while some 50,000 others were still in temporary barracks, the report said. Around half a million people were initially displaced by the tsunami, but many have moved to stay with relatives.

The agency said 235 kilometers of 3,000 kilometers of damaged roads had so far been rebuilt, 335 of 2,000 damaged schools had been rebuilt or were under construction, and 13,000 of 60,000 hectares of agricultural land had been restored.

Funding has not been a problem for Aceh and Nias, as hundreds of international and local charities have pledged help. One year after the tsunami, US$4.4 billion has already been allocated to over 1,000 projects.

Currently, $775 million of the funds had already been spent, with the largest share coming from NGOs and donor countries. Monthly disbursements will have increased to about $150 million by the end of this year and will likely rise to $200 million per month during 2006.

It is expected that the Indonesian government, donors and NGOs will ultimately contribute between $8 billion to $10 billion to rebuild Aceh and Nias through to 2009.

There are many sectors, however, with insufficient funding, such as communications, energy, transport and environment.

Education and health services are recovering fast, but lagging in the west coast, the report said.

Restoring livelihoods after losses of some US$1.2 billion in the fishing, farming and manufacturing sectors has been another major challenge, with the construction boom providing many jobs that will not be sustainable in the long run.

Fishermen are meanwhile likely to need fresh assistance.

The report also said 18,000 of the damaged 80,000 hectares of agricultural land and ponds had been restored, 3,122 of the needed 4,717 fishing boats had been supplied, and 40,000 of 60,000 farmers had returned to their land.

However, most of the boats were not expected to last beyond 18 months due to their poor design and substandard materials.

As the reconstruction moves into its second year, the BRR called for better coordination among stakeholders.

"It is time to get beyond sentiments of 'my project, or yours' and recognize the need for active coordination," the report said.

More than 400 local and international charities are operating in Aceh and the BRR has threatened to "name and shame" those who fail to deliver on their pledges.