Donors pledge more aid for Aceh barracks

Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh

Germany, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and World Vision have pledged funds to build barracks to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of people in Aceh displaced by the earthquake and tsunami on Dec. 26.

The government has also decided to do away with the bidding to build these semi-permanent facilities at a cost of about Rp 300 million each, and instead will appoint the contractors, most local Acehnese.

Chairani TA, deputy head of City Spatial Planning and Settlement in the Aceh provincial government, said the government had designated 24 locations for the barracks, which will be a temporary home for the victims of the disaster.

"These facilities should be good for two years. By then we expect that these displaced people will have found better places to stay," Chairani said.

He said the barracks would be spread throughout Banda Aceh and in the regencies of Aceh Timur, Aceh Utara, Aceh Barat, Aceh Jaya, Bireuen, Pidie and Nagan Raya.

"These displaced people must not spend too long in refugee camps," he told The Jakarta Post. "We will build these barracks as temporary homes."

World Vision, one of the international relief organizations active in Aceh, has pledged to finance the construction of four of the facilities. Germany will finance five of the barracks, the Council of Buddhist Communities three, the Association of National Contractors one, and state-owned enterprises Nindiya Karya and Hutama Karya one location each. The UNHCR has also pledged to assist in the construction of the barracks.

Chairani defended the decision to bypass the tender process and to appoint contractors. "We want to empower local contractors. Some of them were hurt by the disaster too."

Each facility should be able to accommodate between 1,000 and 2,000 people. They will be equipped with kitchen, toilets and clean water, he said.

A plot of land next to each barrack will be set aside for the construction of educational facilities.

"We will let the occupants decide for themselves what kind of educational facility they need," Chairani said.

Eddy Rachmad, who heads the team designing the barracks, said each building would be 13 meters by 30 meters in size, and each room three meters by four meters in size and able to accommodate up to five people.

Australia is assisting in the design to ensure the buildings are fit for habitation, he said.

Work is already underway in Keude Bieng, Aceh Besar regency, on a barracks, said Amsal Ginting of World Vision.

World Vision is surveying locations for three similar facilities. Rain, however, hampered work on Sunday. Amsal and his team will resume surveying possible locations on Monday.