Jobs hard to come by six months after tsunami
Jobs hard to come by six months after tsunami
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Meulaboh
The weather was sweltering as Heroe Afriliadi smashed up large
concrete columns to obtain the iron rods at the former Ujung
Karang pier in Meulaboh, which was destroyed by the tsunami.
The 25-year-old man pounded his hammer onto the large pillar
using both hands to retrieve the iron scrap embedded in the
concrete.
"This is the third pillar that I've smashed open. I have to
break it so that I can get the scrap iron and sell it. I've been
doing this every day ever since the tsunami to survive," he said.
The father of one said that he could earn Rp 20,000 (US$2.10)
per day if he was lucky, but on other days he only got Rp 5,000.
He sells the scrap in Meulaboh for Rp 800 a kilogram. There
are many traders in Meulaboh who want to buy the scrap.
Heroe, who lost his father and younger sibling in the
disaster, said that becoming a scavenger was about the only job
available. He was previously a barber, and said that he had once
submitted an assistance proposal to open up a barber shop to a
non-governmental organization, but to no avail.
"It's difficult to find a job ... How can we get money if we
don't work?" said Heroe, who has been staying in temporary
barracks located at the Darut Sa'adah intersection in Meulaboh
for the past 15 days. Most other refugees haven't even found any
means to earn money, and still depend on aid.
The West Aceh regental administration records 70,346 displaced
persons in Meulaboh alone out of 161,310 people.
Heroe said the government had only once provided cash
assistance -- Rp 93,000 per person -- and that was in March. They
also receive a monthly 12-kg supply of rice per person.
"Are we supposed to get by with only eating rice, without
anything else?" asked Heroe.
A resident of the Johan Pahlawan district, Ramadhan, 21, said
that he was still jobless after almost six months.
Ramadhan, who was a fisherman before the tsunami, said that he
had previously joined the labor-intense program to clean up
Meulaboh of rubble after the catastrophe. However, the program
only lasted several weeks and he is now unemployed again.
"It would be good if there was such a program now, as I could
earn Rp 35,000 per day, which is not too bad," said Ramadhan.
He added that he was waiting for a motorized fishing boat,
assistance from an NGO.
"I received the boat a few days ago, but without the motor,"
said Ramadhan who lost four family members, including his mother.
West Aceh Regent Nasruddin said that his office was planning
to build a large industrial project in the near future to
overcome unemployment in his regency.
He disclosed that the total cost of the project would be
around Rp 10 trillion.
The megaproject will be built in the Bergang district, and
activities would include rice refining, timber processing,
rubber, and crude palm oil and cooking oil industries.
Besides the industrial area, the government will also
establish a coal mine in the Kawe 16 Merbau district as well as a
steam-powered power station.
"We hope the megaproject can be start this year so that it can
start absorbing local unemployed people," said Nasruddin.