Many survivors may not have gotten aid: NGOs

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."