Reconstruction of Aceh port starts

Reconstruction of Aceh port starts

INDONESIA: Visiting Dutch vice minister for transportation and
water Melanie Schultz van Haegen launched on Tuesday
reconstruction work on an Aceh port damaged in last year's
tsunami.

The US$9.8 million rehabilitation of the port, scheduled to
take less than six months, will involve repairing the damaged
main pier and extending it by 20 meters as well as reconstructing
port buildings.

"This port is important not just for (channeling) tsunami
assistance, but also for the economic recovery of the whole
province," Schultz said at the ground-breaking ceremony at Banda
Aceh's Malahayati Port.

The reconstruction is being carried out by a Dutch company.

"This harbor is very strategic and important because among
harbors destroyed in the tsunami, this is the only one that can
still be used," said Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, who heads the agency
overseeing reconstruction.

Kuntoro said that Malahayati was also strategic because it
acted as the main sea hub for economic activities across Aceh.

He also called on the Dutch to "send in a team" to help
develop a strategy for an integrated network of ports in Aceh.

Reconstruction in Aceh has been relying extensively on
transportation by boat and air as coastal road networks were
largely wiped out by last December's tsunami.

Aceh suffered the bulk of damage from the earthquake-triggered
tsunami that wreaked havoc around the rim of the Indian Ocean. --