Making money off the tsunami, from the black market to the

Making money off the tsunami, from the black market to the
multinational[ AP Photos XSP123-126[ By JOCELYN GECKER=
Associated Press Writer[
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -

Making money off the tsunami, from black market to multinational

Jocelyn Gecker
Associated Press/Jakarta

For those looking to make a buck, head to tsunami-wrecked
Sumatra, says Indonesian entrepreneur Sigip Samsu. He rushed
there in the wake of the disaster and hasn't stopped reaping the
benefits of a land in need of plenty.

Samsu moved his helicopter charter service to Sumatra just
after the Dec. 26 disaster and has been booked solid by aid
agencies, journalists and "businessmen looking for
opportunities." Few flinch at his fee of up to US$1,500 per hour.

"We are fully booked," Samsu says of his shuttle service from
the Sumatran city of Medan into hard-hit Aceh province. "It's the
business of the future."

This disaster, like others before it, has its long list of
profiteers. Some are black market vendors making money off
misery: pirated DVDs of the tsunami's real-life horror show are
now on sale in Indonesia, Thailand and India.

Then, there are people and companies making legitimate profit
from the business of disaster relief.

Aid agencies distributing critical food and medical supplies
are doing much of their buying locally -- pumping millions of
dollars into companies that make the dried noodles, rice, mineral
water and medicine that gets handed out to survivors.

USAID, the American government's foreign aid agency, has spent
US$39 million in Indonesia since the disaster struck, spokeswoman
Roberta Rossi said by telephone from Banda Aceh.

Buying supplies is only part of the expense. Cartons of aid
need to be delivered in vehicles, and the agency allocated US$1
million just to cover the rental of 80 trucks and drivers, Rossi
said.

Acehnese who speak English are in high demand by aid agencies
and journalists who need translators. The going rate is US$50 a
day -- the rough equivalent of a civil servant's monthly wage in
pre-disaster Aceh.

Other basic expenses for outsiders in Aceh include drivers,
about US$60 a day, and housing. Most aid agencies and media have
settled in an upper-class Banda Aceh neighborhood untouched by
the disaster, where current market rents rival those of New York
City.

The rent for a two-bedroom home that previously cost the
equivalent of a few hundred U.S. dollars has soared as high as
US$5,000 a month.

The big work remains ahead -- the rebuilding of bridges, homes
and full city blocks of cement buildings that collapsed. Millions
of dollars in aid donations are earmarked for the rebuilding
phase.

Indonesian companies specializing in infrastructure, cement
and heavy-equipment have seen share prices soar.

Since Dec. 26, the share price of Adhi Karya, a majority
state-owned construction firm specializing in building bridges
and roads, has jumped 39 percent; while heavy equipment
specialist United Tractors has seen its stock price jump 16
percent. Overall infrastructure-related firms are outperforming
the Jakarta stock exchange index, which has risen only 3 percent
over the same period.

"This will be a year of construction," said Baradita Katopo,
head of research and Kim Eng Securities. "Many firms are already
benefiting from Aceh."

Local and international telecommunications companies are also
raking in money from the increased traffic of aid workers and
journalists chatting for hours on mobile phones and satellite
systems.

The Thuraya satellite phone company, widely used across the
Middle East and Africa, is accelerating previous plans to boost
coverage in Asia.

Samsu, the helicopter pilot, said many of his clients worked
for telecommunications firms. Some rented his helicopter on 20-
hour contracts. The 44-year-old entrepreneur who transferred to
Sumatra from Jakarta said he's in such high demand he often sends
prospective clients to his competitors.

Indonesia's debt-ridden national airline, Garuda, was
experiencing booming business.

Banda Aceh's once sleepy airport transformed into an
international hub for relief workers, with thousands of aid
workers needing flights.

Garuda, which had previously operated two flights a day into
Banda Aceh, increased its service to as many as 10 flights daily,
said airline spokesman Pujobroto, who goes by a single name.
International conglomerates have given tons of aid to tsunami-
stricken countries -- and would prefer to focus on that rather
than tsunami-related revenue.

Danone, the food and drink conglomerate, has donated 1 million
bottles of its mineral water Aqua, the top-selling bottled water
in Indonesia. It has also given 1 million packs of Danone
biscuits and 400,000 bottles of milk -- though that is just a
fraction of the Danone products purchased by aid workers for
distribution.

Stefanus Felix, a spokesman, said Danone was selling its
products at a "special price" to humanitarian groups but declined
to elaborate.

"Talking about business in a situation like this," he said, "I
don't think it's appropriate."

GetAP 1.00 -- JAN 26, 2005 10:34:34