Rebuilding in Aceh painfully slow

Harry Bhaskara, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

The tsunami may have occurred six months ago but reconstruction work on the northeastern side of Aceh has only just commenced.

"It was only three days ago that construction work started here," said former Cabinet minister Kuntoro Mangkusubroto recently in Deah Baru village, Lhok Nga, one of the hardest hit areas on the northern tip of Sumatra.

"Nothing has been done so far," said Kuntoro, who is now serving as the head of the Aceh and Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Executive Agency (BRR).

"Uncertainty on the part of the government is responsible for the delay in reconstruction," he said in reply to a question.

"There was no specific body with authority previously and frustration was rising in the refugee barracks," Kuntoro said, referring to the places where survivors have temporarily been taking shelter.

The government initially banned villagers who used to live close to the coast from rebuilding their homes and was toying with the idea that they should move at least three kilometers further inland.

"But they are fishermen. How could they live two or three kilometers from here? I decided that they had to be allowed to rebuild their houses," said Kuntoro, a highly respected bureaucrat with an impeccable track record.

It was only after Kuntoro was assigned to head the new executive agency in April that things started to happen.

Departing from the norm for Indonesian government officials, Kuntoro openly acknowledged soon after he was installed on April 30 that reconstruction work had been progressing too slowly in Aceh.

In Deah Baru village, local and foreign NGOs are working hard to speed up the rebuilding of survivors' homes.

Kuntoro said a microfinancing scheme was in the offing for survivors, and vocational training would also be provided.

"This will involve low-level skills like how to put steel frames together," he said.

Asked about funding disbursement, he said that less than US$2 billion out of US$7.6 billion was even close to being disbursed.

An 800-kilometer stretch of coast to an average distance of two kilometers inland had been totally devastated by the tsunami, Kuntoro said.

Located on the northern tip of Sumatra, cone-shaped Aceh province was hardest hit on its western side, which was closest to the epicenter of the quake.

Hendro Suwito from World Vision said some main roads were in a very bad condition. The eastern side was less badly hit, leaving the roads still passable, he said.

Although reconstruction has started, seismic activity does not seem to have subsided in Aceh. Locals say that earthquakes and tremors occur every two or three days.

"The last one was on Sunday, it was a big one. People had to run out of their homes," said Mo Li, from Banda Aceh.