IOM to build 11,000 houses

IOM to build 11,000 houses

SIGLI, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam: The International
Organization for Migration (IOM) has signed an agreement with
Banda Aceh city contractors to build 11,000 houses for tsunami
victims.

"We'll try build the houses immediately because many tsunami
victims need them," IOM representative Steve Cook said.

The construction of the houses, which would be mainly financed
by the Japanese and German governments, would involve local
workers and contractors.

The tsunami, which swept Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and North
Sumatra on Dec. 26, made some 500,000 Acehnese homeless.

IOM has also sent two doctors and a nurse to the island of
Nias to help treat victims of the 8.7-magnitude quake that rocked
western coastal area of Sumatra last Monday. The organization has
also sent 34 trucks carrying 170 metric tones of relief aid to
Nias.

"Around 19 of our trucks carrying relief aid are still in
Sibolga because we gave priority to heavy equipment," IOM
spokesperson Paul Dillon said. -- JP