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.