Donors pledge more aid for Aceh barracks

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.