Govt reports progress on relief work in Aceh

Govt reports progress on relief work in Aceh

Ruslan Sangadji and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh/Jakarta

Emergency and relief work continues in Aceh barely a month after
tsunamis hit the region, with corpses still being pulled out from
under rubble and displaced people awaiting relocation.

Data current on Tuesday showed that 99,031 bodies had been
buried in Aceh, while 127,749 people are still missing.

"All of the corpses were found in Banda Aceh, Aceh Besar and
on the west coast of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam," said Coordinating
Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab, on Wednesday.

Alwi, who also leads the national committee for relief
efforts, said that food is still being distributed by the
committee. As of Tuesday, the committee had distributed 2,170
tons of rice, 48,061 packets of instant noodles, 44,703 tons of
salted fish, 95,690 boxes of powder milk, 21,932 blankets and
22,681 packets of biscuits.

The food items, he said, had been directly handed to displaced
people at various camps in the province.

For areas that cannot be reached by land, the aid has been
distributed using helicopters and airplanes -- foreign-owned or
military or police ones -- which are now on standby at Sultan
Iskandar Muda Aceh Airport.

Some such areas include Calang, Meulaboh, Lamno and Abdya.

Since the disaster, 417,124 people have been sheltered in 66
camps in 18 regencies and cities across Aceh, he said.

According to Alwi, people who have remained in the camps will
be relocated to any one of 29 centers in the province.

"They will be moved after the establishment of the barracks,
the construction of which is underway," Alwi said, adding that
the barracks would be ready at the end of this month.

Public bathrooms, toilets and kitchens have been built in the
interim.

The land where the barracks are being built, Alwi said, is not
all state property, but also rented from residents.

"What we need is around three to 10 hectares of land. Those
who have a property of that size can contact us and we'll rent it
for two years," he said.

Meanwhile, deputy director of non-governmental organization
the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) M. Ridha Saleh,
told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that the government's efforts
in Aceh's reconstruction and rehabilitation had been too
centralistic.

"The government has to see the refugees as subjects, which
means they have to be involved in determining where they are to
be relocated to," said Ridha, who is also a member of the NGO
Coalition for Aceh.

Elsewhere, Alwi said in Jakarta, that as of Jan. 25, the
tsunami funds received by the committee totaled Rp 914 billion
(US$99.34 million), mostly coming from state-owned companies,
provincial-owned companies, regional administrations and the
central government's budget.

He said that some Rp 114 billion of that money had been spent,
mostly on tents, food items and medical supplies, as well as
donated to the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI).

Alwi was speaking to reporters after President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono requested that he report on the flow of donated funds
as part of transparency measures to avoid corruption.

He said that the minister's office would file a report with
the President on the 26th of each month, and publish it in the
mass media, adding that the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) would
audit the flow and use of the funds.

Alwi said that the office had not prepared a report on funds
coming from foreign governments, because that aid had mostly been
pledged but not yet realized.