Community involvement essential in Aceh rebuilding

Community involvement essential in Aceh rebuilding

United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and director of the
UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, Hafiz Pasha
visited Aceh from Feb. 25 to 26 to find ways for the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP) to boost the reconstruction of
the tsunami-devastated province. He shared his views about the
program with The Jakarta Post's Abdul Khalik.

Question: After two months of emergency relief efforts, how do
you see progress in Aceh?

Answer: Progress has been good. We have concentrated on giving
them food supplies, and arranging for water, and shelter.
However, there's still a lot of things to be done. We still have
to continue to clean up rubble and starting some sort of program
for people's livelihoods. UNDP has started such programs,
including a cash-for-work program to employ people to clean up
rubble.

Several problems have arisen during the two-month emergency
relief program, like people's refusal to move to the shelters
provided for them. What is your comment about this?

Clearly, in the relief phase we concentrated on helping and
supporting them first. As we move towards the permanent shelters,
we have to ensure that there's a link between shelters and
livelihoods. When we move people to shelters the planning for the
location should take care all of those consideration. The
government is now preparing a master plan, and I think they will
consider people's livelihood. UNDP has provided technical
assistance for the master plan.

How do you see people's participation in the relief program?

Participation is a very important consideration for us because
we are committed to a participatory process. The needs, hopes,
and involvement of the communities hardest hit by the tsunami
must be at heart of the work at hand. We want the people
involved, to identify what they need, and they are the ones who
should implement the program. We are told by the chairman of
Bappeda (Provincial Development Planning Agency) that they are
going to have a series of workshops. They are going to invite
people representing each of the affected districts, and they have
asked us to be involved in the process.

What are the programs that UNDP will implement in Aceh?

There are four areas that UNDP will implements programs for in
Aceh. The first focusing on livelihoods, on the cash-for-work
program, then we will help them rebuild the fishing industry, and
provide them with microcredit. The second thing is clearing the
rubble, and rehabilitating the infrastructure, like roads,
clinics, and schools. The third is building permanent shelters.
The fourth is local capacity building, in which we advise local
government to strengthen the community, and really helping people
to be able to participate in the process.

How much money does the UNDP plan to pour into the province?

For the first six months, which is now being executed, we have
a total of US$72 million for the province.

How do see the transition from the emergency relief phase to
reconstruction?

Well, it's a gradual transition. We don't have a kind of clear
cut line. The program should move gradually from the emergency
relief phase to a fully-fledged reconstruction program. A maximum
of six months will be needed for the emergency phase, while I
think the reconstruction phase needs three to five years. The
government is preparing a five-year master plan.

What is the involvement of UNDP in the process of making of
the master plan for Aceh?

We are already involved in the making of the plan. There are
ten working groups for different sectors. We provide technical
assistance for each of the groups. We will also help them
consolidate the results.