Deadline for aid agencies in Aceh extended

Tony Hotland and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government extended on Thursday the transition period to the reconstruction phase in Aceh, giving up to 60 more days for all foreign humanitarian aid agencies to continue their relief work there.

The extension is expected to help the government consolidate the activities of the different humanitarian organizations and improve coordination, a press statement issued by the Office of Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare said.

The government is in need of a higher level of coordination for the reconstruction in Aceh in order to prevent an overlap of activities and ensure that funding is used appropriately.

"Managing such a large number of organizations in different sectors presents a great challenge," the statement said.

The welfare minister, Alwi Shihab, who heads the relief effort, previously set a deadline for "non-relevant" foreign aid groups to leave the province by March 26 as the government would begin to focus on reconstruction work.

Speaking to The Jakarta Post, Alwi said that foreign troops in Aceh could also stay in the province beyond March 26 as long as their visas were still valid, or "if there is a special request from the Indonesian government for the foreign troops to extend their humanitarian mission in the area."

"There are just a handful of countries with military personnel still carrying out humanitarian relief in Aceh. And they won't be asked to leave Aceh unless their visas have expired," Alwi said.

The government earlier planned to set certain criteria for foreign organizations in order that they could stay, especially those with useful skills.

To do this, the government is reviewing the plans of the organizations in order to determine how they can best meet the reconstruction needs to be laid out in the government's long- awaited Master Plan.

"The government believes that more time needs to be allowed for further consultation with donor countries, agencies and humanitarian organizations," the statement said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will now work to arrange a mechanism for visa applications and renewals for the foreigners, with details to be announced after March 26.

There are an estimated 160 aid groups in Aceh, ranging from large United Nations agencies like UNICEF to small faith-based groups from around the world.

Related stories on Pages 2,6