Government to take over relief operation in three months

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government plans to take over the relief operation in Aceh from foreign aid workers within the next three months, despite lingering concerns of bottlenecks in aid distribution and the threat of diseases spreading among displaced people.

"We are going to intensify the use of domestic resources to gradually take over the humanitarian operation ... By March 26, we expect to have control over the situation," State Secretary Sudi Silalahi said after a limited Cabinet meeting on the matter led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

He underlined that the Indonesian government was grateful to the international community for its sympathy and support, but the government had to begin to take charge of the relief operation.

To support the plan, the Indonesian Military (TNI) will send three more battalions and 1,000 military cadets to the province, while the police will send one mobile brigade battalion.

"We will set a clear time frame and objective to increase our role in the relief operation," Sudi said.

Foreign governments and individuals have pledged more than US$7 billion in aid to help coastal areas around the Indian Ocean recover from the devastating impact of the Dec. 26 tsunami, which killed over 150,000 people in Asia. Thousands of foreign aid workers and military troops have rushed into Aceh, which bore the brunt of the tsunami, to help thousands of survivors and distribute aid to remote areas as the government's capacity has been limited. It has been called the largest humanitarian relief operation since World War II.

Defense minister Juwono Sudarsono said that it was time for Indonesia to take responsibility for running relief and rehabilitation efforts in Aceh.

"It is most important that we utilize our domestic potential," he said.

The government was initially criticized for its poor performance in coordinating relief efforts in Aceh. Its plan to take over the relief operation comes despite lingering difficulties in reaching isolated areas in Aceh and threats to survivors' health. The World Health Organization confirmed on Tuesday two separate cases of measles in Banda Aceh.

In the meeting, the President instructed that all resources should be focused on the evacuation and burial of the thousands of remaining bodies of tsunami victims, and expected that search-and-rescue efforts would be completed within the next week.

The government also announced on Tuesday it would reopen an airstrip on a small island near the northern tip of Sumatra to ease pressure at the main airport in Banda Aceh, which is now handling some 150 flights a day.

Sudi said the meeting also discussed damage assessment, which would be carried out across the province in the near future.

Some government officials previously estimated that the cost of Aceh's rehabilitation and reconstruction would reach around Rp 20 trillion (US$2.17 billion) for a five-year program.

The government expects foreign donors to provide a debt moratorium, which would allow it to use funds initially committed to debt repayment for financing the reconstruction of Aceh.