BRR-TNI reconstruction plan raises questions

A'an Suryana and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh/Jakarta

The government has drawn strong criticism for its plan to deploy 15 battalions, or about 15,000 soldiers, to help speed up reconstruction in Aceh.

Critics said on Friday the deployment could endanger the peace process in the tsunami-ravaged province, after former rebels completed their disarmament and the Indonesian Military (TNI) pulled out most of its combat troops from Aceh.

The critics accuse the Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR) of not promoting policies that support long-lasting peace in the province.

The agency is only interested in its own success by focusing on infrastructure development in Aceh, which has unfortunately shown very little progress up to this point, said Agung Widjaja, a researcher at human rights and democracy watchdog Demos.

"A massive redeployment of troops to Aceh will harm the ongoing peace process. Anyone who visits Aceh will see there is no area so remote that is too difficult for civilian contractors to reach," he said.

TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Thursday he would respond positively to a request by BRR chief Kuntoro Mangkusubroto to help the agency rebuild Aceh by deploying thousands of soldiers to the province.

Sutarto said the TNI was ready to lend a hand after Kuntoro told him the BRR needed the military's manpower.

The idea was first raised two weeks ago after a meeting between Kuntoro and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta. During the meeting, the President asked Kuntoro how the government could help speed up reconstruction.

BRR spokesman Sudirman Said confirmed on Friday the agency was considering asking the TNI for assistance in Aceh.

"The issue is sensitive, so we are discussing it carefully. We are still looking into the costs and benefits of seeking help from TNI," Sudirman told The Jakarta Post in Banda Aceh.

Rusdi Marpaung from human rights watchdog Imparsial questioned whether the President had been informed of or approved the planned redeployment of troops to Aceh.

"The Military Law states that the President is the only person authorized to decide on the use of military forces. The legislature must also endorse and monitor any troop mobilizations. So it would be against the law if Kuntoro bypassed the President and directly asked the TNI chief to send troops to help him rebuild Aceh," Rusdi said.

Sudirman said the BRR faced a daunting task in rebuilding Aceh, given the vast area decimated by the Dec. 26 tsunami. According to data from the agency, the tsunami wreaked havoc on nearly 800 kilometers of coastline in Aceh, damaging nearly all of the infrastructure in the path of the waves. The tsunami left 3,000 kilometers of roads impassable, 14 of 19 seaports badly damaged, eight of 10 airports damaged and 170 bridges destroyed, according to the data.

"Reconstruction projects in remote areas have been progressing at a slow pace because contractors lack the ability to penetrate isolated areas hit by the tsunami. The damage was so severe that contractors, for example, gave up after they had already been hired to rebuild roads between Lamno and Calang. As civilians have failed to accomplish the work, we are expecting help" from the military, said Sudirman.

He said the BRR understood the gravity of the situation and added that if the redeployment materialized, the agency would prefer to use soldiers from the Iskandar Muda Military Command in Aceh rather than pulling in troops from outside the province.

The Aug. 15 peace deal signed by the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) states that all non-local troops must be withdrawn from the province.

GAM spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah said on Thursday that if the deployment took place, it could have a devastating psychological impact on the Acehnese, many of whom were the victims of TNI atrocities in the years before the peace agreement was reached in Helsinki, Finland.

The deployment could also cause suspicion among former GAM rebels, who have cooperated with international monitors to hand over their weapons, as stipulated in the peace deal, he said.