BRR vows to speed up Aceh rebuilding
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The head of the Aceh and Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) agency has vowed to speed up reconstruction work, particularly the building of permanent houses for people left homeless by the Dec. 26 tsunami disaster.
BRR chairman Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said that so far the agency had constructed around 6,300 houses, including 870 in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh, which bore the brunt of the tsunami that left over 220,000 people dead and missing as well as around half a million people homeless.
The agency, which was set up five months ago, is tasked with overseeing reconstruction work and managing the billions of dollars in aid given by foreign donors and the government of Indonesia. But reconstruction work has been slow due to, among other things, security problems, particularly in Aceh, which until recently was the scene of a decades-long insurgency.
But as the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have signed a peace accord and there are signs that peace is taking hold, the reconstruction work should be able to gather pace.
Kuntoro said that by December, the agency hoped to have completed the construction of some 30,000 permanent houses.
"This is quite a tough target for us, but if we don't set a high target, the BRR will only work more slowly," Kuntoro was quoted by Antara as saying on Saturday following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Chinese government, under which the latter will provide the agency with some US$1.5 million worth of aid.
Kuntoro said that of the $7 billion pledged by foreign donors, some $4.7 billion had been disbursed to the BRR.
"In addition, funds from the state budget have also been made available," he said.
Kuntoro acknowledged that there were obstacles to speeding up the pace of reconstruction work in Aceh, particularly with regard to the slow process in obtaining land.
"The challenges include the fact that in certain areas, the provision of land by the local administrations has been slow. Aside from that, there have been difficulties as regards the transporting of construction materials due to damaged roads and ports," he said.
Elsewhere, Kuntoro said that aside from housing, the BRR had also made progress in the reconstruction of port facilities with the completion of reconstruction work on ports in Meulaboh and Ulelheu.
He said that the BRR had also completed the reconstruction of the highway connecting Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, and the rebuilding of some 120 schools.
"In the health sector, we're now constructing 70 community clinics and hospitals," he said.
The BRR has a four-year mandate, which can subsequently be extended by the government.
Meanwhile, Kuntoro also disclosed on Saturday that the Chinese government had expressed interest in constructing railroad facilities in Banda Aceh
He said that the Chinese government had expressed its interest in this sector to President Susilo Bambang during his visit to China a few months ago.
"Before the President left for China, he asked me what the BRR needed for Aceh. I told the President that (Aceh) needed a light rail system for local transportation that was energy efficient," he recalled.