Life returns slowly to Aceh[b]

Life returns slowly to Aceh

Earthquakes still shake Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam six months
after the Dec. 26 tsunami.

Banda Aceh residents say the city is jolted every two or three
days, mostly by minor quakes. An unusually large one occurred on
Sunday June 5.

Nevertheless, city life has almost returned to the way it was
before the tsunami. Most shops, restaurants and offices have
reopened. The streets are clean and the traffic has come back to
life.

That is in complete contrast to what happened in the days
after the tsunami, when chaos and confusion reigned.

Yet, a lot of work still needs to be done in coastal as well
as remote areas of Aceh province. Coastal villages like those in
Lhok Nga, Lampuuk or Ulee Lheue are still largely untouched.

Only a few of the thousands of villagers who lived there
before have returned to their plots of land and live in makeshift
tents, as most of their houses have been swept away by the giant
waves.

The tsunami, the most intense in recent history, killed more
than 129,000 people in Indonesia, with 90,000 more unaccounted
for. It also made more than 450,000 people homeless.

Reconstruction will go on for years before the whole province
is restored. Apart from Aceh and Nias in Indonesia, the tsunami
affected more than a dozen countries, mainly in the Asia-Pacific
region.

-- Text and photos by Harry Bhaskara

Photo A

Corrugated iron and debris lie everywhere in what used to be a
coastal village in Lampuuk, in the northern part of Banda Aceh.
Lampuuk was among the hardest-hit areas in the province.

Photo B

A human skull sits atop a muddied tree trunk in the village of
Lampisang, Lamkruet district, Banda Aceh. Excavators work around
the clock to clear debris from the village. The debris, taken
from various parts of Banda Aceh, is temporarily dumped in the
village before being transferred to a permanent dumpsite.

Photo C

This ruined house is testament to the mighty forces unleashed by
giant waves that wrought havoc in the otherwise beautiful
province of Aceh on Dec. 26. The house lies next to Baet village,
on the outskirts of Banda Aceh. The dwellings of other villagers,
around the house, were completely flattened.

Photo D

Mochtar, 35, stands on crutches in the village of Lamkruet, Banda
Aceh. Mochtar, widowed after he lost his wife and two children,
hopes that he can return to his former job as a driver. To
achieve that, though, he will need to use an artificial limb.

Photo E

Women stand in rows while at prayer in a partly damaged mosque in
Lampuuk district, in Banda Aceh's coastal area. The mosque
sustained only minor damage and is mostly intact, despite its
coastal location. Houses in the mosque's vicinity were swept away
by the giant waves.

Photo F

A partly destroyed house partially obstructs a road in Lhok Nga,
Banda Aceh. The house was lifted and moved a few meters away from
its original location by the powerful waves.

Photo G

A 250-ton ship lies next to a house in Ulee Lheue district, Banda
Aceh. The vessel was picked up by the giant waves and carried
about five-kilometers inland from the coast before grounding atop
two houses. Locals say nine bodies were buried under the ship.