Reconstruction agency casts blame for lack of progress in Aceh
Reconstruction agency casts blame for lack of progress in Aceh
Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
The Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias
(BRR) has lashed out at the Ministry of Finance for lacking a
sense of crisis in delaying without clear reason several critical
enabling regulations that would allow reconstruction work to
proceed.
Deputy of the agency's communication division, Sudirman Said,
disclosed that the regulations were still at the ministry even
though they were pivotal to speeding up the agency's work in the
region devastated by a tsunami in December last year.
"There are four regulations on reconstruction that are still
with the ministry for reasons that are unclear," Sudirman said in
Banda Aceh on Sunday.
The four regulations, he said, had already been approved by
the National Development Planning Board and the State Secretary's
Office.
They are drafts of Presidential Regulations intended to amend
Presidential Decree No. 80/2003 on guidelines for product/service
provision, as well as for salaries for agency workers and
officials, free registration processing for land affected by the
tsunami, and on unit pricing to determine tariffs.
He said one of the regulations -- the one providing free
registration processing for land affected by the tsunami -- has
been at the ministry for three months.
"Because the regulations are still with the ministry, this has
caused many problems. For instance, 101 reconstruction working
units are not being paid and they've been working for six
months," Sudirman said.
The agency's workers are feeling the impact of the ministry's
slow response. "We're just giving down-payments," Sudirman said.
The agency, he said, had repeatedly sent letters to the
finance ministry questioning the fate of the regulations, but had
received no response.
"We understand that the ministry of finance's job is to
control; but if the control puts a stop to (reconstruction and
rehabilitation) then it's not right," Sudirman said.
He hoped the ministry would show a sense of crisis considering
that the people of Aceh desperately wanted to get back on track
after being devastated by the tsunami.
The agency, which was set up seven months ago and is tasked
with overseeing reconstruction work and managing the billions of
dollars in foreign aid, was under pressure to speed up
reconstruction work in Aceh and Nias.
The agency's chairman, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, recently vowed
to speed up reconstruction, particularly the building of
permanent houses for people left homeless by the tsunami, which
killed over 220,00 people and left around half a million people
homeless.
So far, the agency had constructed around 6,300 houses,
including 870 in Banda Aceh. By December, the agency hoped to
have completed the construction of some 30,000 houses.