Many survivors may not have gotten aid: NGOs
The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
Concerns remained on Sunday that an unknown number of tsunami survivors in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam have either not received any aid or have not enough aid, including many in the provincial capital city, two weeks after the disaster that killed more than 110,000 people there.
As officials and volunteers were focusing on relief work for victims at refugee camps, some 200,000 survivors living at homes of relatives and friends across Aceh were denied regular supplies of aid.
These refugees were not recorded by the government as they have been living outside refugee camps.
"The government channels food assistance to the chief of our neighborhood and the chief distributes the aid to us," said a resident in Keutapang subdistrict, Banda Aceh, who houses at least 50 refugees from eight families.
However up until Sunday, the families had only received 15 kilograms of rice and several packs of instant noodles, she added.
Siti Rohana, another resident in Keutapang, who is also providing a place to stay for her relatives and other victims, confirmed there was a shortage of food for them.
Because of this, several of the refugees living at her home were forced to leave for refugee camps, she added.
Aid groups reported that the humanitarian operation has continued to gather momentum amid enormous problems of logistics and infrastructure, but conceded some of the most desperate and isolated communities may not have been reached.
"It's impossible to estimate how many people we're feeding," Maria Theresa De la Cruz, head of relief operations in Indonesia for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told AFP.
"We don't know whether the food airdropped is distributed in all areas. In some areas it's organized. In other areas, as soon as the helicopter lands, everyone rushes there."
Without anyone on the ground, it is difficult to determine whether the airdrops are getting to everyone who needs them, De la Cruz said.
The IOM, which was one of the few foreign non-government organizations operating in Aceh before the Dec. 26 disaster, is coordinating airdrops to areas cut off by road with the U.S. Navy.
Another prominent aid group conducting relief missions in Aceh, Oxfam, said there were over 100,000 people in 200 makeshift settlements across the province with populations ranging from 30 to more than 3,000.
Oxfam's regional advocacy coordinator, Mona Latzo, said a lack of coordination among aid groups and the Indonesian government meant there was no way of knowing how regularly some of the settlements were receiving aid.
"It's likely that many people have not received continued aid. With over 200 communities, it's very difficult to keep on top of who is getting what and when," Latzo told AFP.
Latzo said Oxfam was aiming to maintain contacts with a number of settlements, so the people there could be certain of a regular supply of aid.
The logistical problems at the two main airports serving as hubs for aid distribution also continued to plague relief efforts.
The airports -- in Banda Aceh and Medan in North Sumatra -- remain overwhelmed by the numbers of planes trying to deliver supplies, aid groups said.
Latzo said a flight carrying vital equipment for Oxfam arrived in Medan a week ago, but remained stuck there for five days as they could not get landing permission at Banda Aceh airport because of the massive congestion.
She said Oxfam eventually decided to bring the equipment in by truck, a much longer journey that was extended after one vehicle went missing for two days.
"The (aid distribution) situation has improved but we are still experiencing a good number of challenges and we are trying to be creative and think of many different ways to do our work," Latzo said.
Meanwhile, survivors receiving regular food and water at camps in and around Banda Aceh were experiencing the next painful stage of their recovery, looking for financial security with their homes, businesses and livelihoods destroyed.
"My life is in a mess now. Unless aid funds come to us directly and quickly, we may all have to bury ourselves together with the dead," 20-year-old Anita told AFP as she queued to collect a bowl of rice and potato at a relief center.
Anita, who worked in a brick factory that was destroyed in the floods, said she would need Rp 25 million (US$2,500) to rebuild her house and for other financial assistance.
"But if you ask me what's in store in the future, I just don't know. I don't see any light unless we get some financial aid soon," she said.
"How long must we stay in these tents by the roadside? It has been two weeks since we sought shelter here. We want to go home. But it has been washed away."