Migrant Acehnese in anguish over uncertainty

Migrant Acehnese in anguish over uncertainty

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Yogyakarta/Bandung

"I haven't heard from my family. They live in Lhoong district
along Aceh's eastern coast, which is isolated because
transportation access was cut off," said Andri Gunawan on
Tuesday.

When Andri learned on Wednesday that he could go to Banda Aceh
on a Hercules aircraft chartered by an anonymous woman, the
Acehnese's face filled with relief and hope.

"I will find a way to reach Lhoong when I touch down in Banda
Aceh. I will walk if I have to," he said.

Lhoong is located only 50 kilometers or so south of Banda
Aceh, but the main road between the two cities was completely
swept away by tidal waves from Sunday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake.

Many migrant Acehnese living, studying or working outside
their hometowns, like Andri, went to a humanitarian aid post at
the Aceh Students Dormitory in Setiabudi, South Jakarta, to
deliver donations, seek information or merely show sympathy.

"Besides food, clothes and money, we also need flights to
Banda Aceh. We need to send volunteers there because we have seen
on television that there are so many dead and the situation is
out of hand," said the post deputy coordinator, Ismail Berdan.

Locals in Aceh and North Sumatra are in dire need of help to
bury recovered bodies and prevent a post-disaster outbreak of
disease.

Commercial flights to Banda Aceh are fully booked, even though
airlines have expanded their services to Banda Aceh and Medan.

"My friend has been looking for a vacant seat on any flight to
Banda Aceh since yesterday. He even slept at the (Soekarno-Hatta
International) airport last night," said Zulfadli.

An unidentified woman has responded to the Acehnese's plight
with the unexpected offer of a flight to Banda Aceh.

"A woman just sent a message saying she has arranged a
Hercules plane for 30 to 50 people to fly to Banda Aceh tomorrow
(Wednesday)," a volunteer told his friends, who welcomed the news
with relief.

"She said she could not provide any money, only the flight.
Will that be all right?" he asked again, the anonymous caller on
hold.

All at the post replied immediately that the flight was the
most important thing.

Meanwhile in Aceh, a provincial official provided a death toll
of 7,072, but Vice President Jusuf Kalla estimated that the
number of fatalities could reach 25,000.

Uncertainty, confusion and grief united hundreds of Acehnese
students in Yogyakarta on Tuesday as they waited for news from
home, commiserating at the newly established Humanitarian Aid
Post for Aceh, which is collecting donations and registering
volunteers.

The group intended to send volunteers to Aceh province, but
were not sure how to deliver the donated supplies to those in
need.

In Bandung, hundreds of Acehnese students were desperately
looking for a way to transport and distribute all the supplies
they had collected.

"We need to send money, hundreds of boxes of instant noodles,
clothes and blankets. There are also 50 volunteers ready to go
there," said Priyanto Kurniawan, who is from Langsa, Aceh.