Meulaboh survivors at desperation point
Meulaboh survivors at desperation point
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Meulaboh
The sun rose in Meulaboh, the capital of isolated West Aceh regency, to reveal that almost 70 percent of the buildings, particularly those two kilometers from the coastline, had been washed away by last Sunday's tsunami.
Soldiers and their families were looking for loved ones and valuables amid the rubble of Teuku Umar Military Resort Hospital and military housing complex, only a few meters from the shore. Others troops were combing the area for the corpse of the wife a middle-ranking intelligence officer, which was believed to be buried under the debris of her house.
Moments later, a crowd of disheveled people staying in refugee camps on higher ground descended on the town and started scavenging for food. Some scoured through the debris, while others checked inside stores that had withstood the tidal wave.
The people wore masks while walking down the street, which was littered with corpses, many of them decomposing.
Bujang, 32, was among the residents who returned to collect what was left five days after the tsunami hit the area. He combed through his house in Panggung subdistrict, Johan Pahlawan district, which was among the areas hardest hit by the disaster.
Meulaboh, where 10,000 people are feared dead, remained inaccessible to humanitarian aid missions until Thursday.
Since the disaster struck his town, Bujang has lived with his wife in a refugee camp in Lapang, some five kilometers from the Meulaboh coastline.
"I have nothing left. The tsunami has destroyed our lives," he said.
A group people were picking up others' belongings on Friday.
A 39 female resident in Nibo subdistrict, some three kilometers from the Meulaboh shore, admitted to collecting two plastic bag-loads of toothpaste, cooking utensils, soap and other daily necessities. Her house had been inundated by chest-high seawater.
"Our belongings have all gone and we need to survive. The goods I took were left by the owners, who are probably dead," said the woman, who is staying at a refugee camp in Lapang subdistrict.
A 21-year-old resident of Pasir Pinang subdistrict, also in Johan Pahlawan district, was using a pedicab to collect goods.
"Nobody is preventing us from picking up things out of the rubble. I rarely see police here," he said when asked whether he felt guilty or afraid of the police.
Anwar, 40, a shop assistant, said scavenging was rampant during the first three days after the disaster. Most of the scavengers took food, clothes, cooking utensils and fuel from empty shops and grocers.
Several other people carried away air conditioners and fans on Friday. One man took a new motorcycle from a showroom.
Some soldiers, heavily armed, paid no attention to those carrying away goods as they were busy organizing locals removing corpses.
Sgt. Maj. Soetikno said no arrests had been made by security personnel as no thieves had been identified.
"We will arrest them. The law must be upheld no matter what," he said.
Limited food aid was dropped from the air in the first three days after the calamity. The town was isolated after many bridges collapsed following the earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
"Many people are hungry and need help, but there are no government officials lending a hand. They lured people during the election, but where are they now?" said Zulkifli, a resident of Ujung Baru subdistrict.