Nias to begin reconstruction work

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

The North Sumatra provincial government is planning to start the reconstruction of highways and bridges on quake-devastated Nias island in August this year. A senior government official has said that road and bridge reconstruction would cost the provincial government about Rp 467 billion (US$49 million).

"The money will come both from the central government and North Sumatra provincial government," said Roslila, the director of the provincial administration's Highways Office.

The central government provided Rp 50 billion in cash to the provincial government a few days after a monster earthquake rocked the island on March 28 in order to help reconstruction and rehabilitation work in the area. And, it might disburse more cash in the near future, said Roslila.

The reconstruction work is badly needed as the length of damaged roads and bridges extends to some hundreds of kilometers.

Tender will be held for the reconstruction projects between June and July, and the winners will be announced publicly.

Meanwhile, R.E. Nainggolan, the director of the Information and Communications Office at the North Sumatra provincial administration, said that the situation on the devastated island had still not returned to normal, and ruined buildings and debris were to be found all over the island.

Currently, locals, helped by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Elsaka, a non-governmental organization from North Sumatra, are helping to clean up the debris.

"The UNDP and Elsaka have estimated that the cleanup will have been completed in two months time," said Nainggolan.

Nainggolan said that there were 103 volunteers still working on Nias. They are engaged in various forms of relief work and had committed themselves to staying on the island for between one and two years.

Regarding the reconstruction of homes and offices, Nainggolan said the total cost would be in the region of Rp 4 trillion. The provincial government has already submitted a funding proposal to the central government and the reconstruction work would start soon after this had been approved.

The massive earthquake on Nias island, which measured 8.7 on the Richter scale, killed hundreds of people and left thousands of others injured.