'Embezzlers of aid should be shot'

'Embezzlers of aid should be shot'

Relief supplies have arrived in Aceh from all over the country
and the world. But the absence of a competent coordinating
authority has left many survivors, especially those outside
refugee camps, without food, clean water or medicine for over a
week. Despite the tragedy, some of the people The Jakarta Post
talked to saw a silver lining amid the devastating calamity.

Idham, 27, sells computer accessories in Pasar Minggu, South
Jakarta. He lives with his aunt in Cililitan, East Jakarta:

I think there are several good things that we can take from
this tragedy. First of all, the war in the province has
temporarily eased. I hope after the relief mission, the war can
be terminated entirely.

However, the government must be more serious in its handling
of the relief programs to save the land and the people so that
the rebuilding of Aceh can run smoothly and successfully. Anybody
who embezzles the aid funds should be shot to death, because they
are no good.

If the Acehnese see that the government and other ethnic
groups are serious and sincere in helping them, I believe they
can see that all Indonesians care for them, and hopefully the
insurgent groups, such as the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), will lose
popularity and fade away.

Fifi, 24, works for a film distributor in Central Jakarta. She
lives with her parents in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta:

The tragedy reminds us that we must be obedient to what God
has told us to do. Who else can we turn to except God? This is a
warning for us all, not only for the Acehnese, that we are
powerless to stop natural disasters.

I hope that the tragedy can also serve as a unifying force
between the people of Aceh and the people from other parts of
Indonesia. We're all crying for the province that was hit hardest
by this natural disaster.

At least the Acehnese may be able to see that people from
other regions are different from the government and its
bureaucrats, who the Acehnese feel have been unfair in their
treatment of Aceh for so long.

It is the government that must become introspective now after
this tragedy to prevent more rebelliousness by the Acehnese.

--The Jakarta Post