Recycling program provides tsunami survivors lifeline

Recycling program provides tsunami survivors lifeline

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Ridwan has been working since 8 a.m. He pays no heed to the flies
and passing trucks. His deftly sorts out wood and iron from a
pile of garbage reaching 10 meters high as a result of the
tsunami. "The wood and iron will be stacked separately. Iron can
be sold directly to add money to buy food," Ridwan told The
Jakarta Post.

Ridwan is not alone. There are some 200 others eking out a
living in the tsunami waste dump at Jawa village in Banda Aceh.

Most of them are tsunami survivors, but some come from distant
regencies as each worker is being paid Rp 30,000 (US$3.30) per
day by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The UNDP
program aims to reduce the volume of tsunami waste which has
reached a staggering 300,000 cubic meters.

Ridwan, himself a refugee, returns home at night to the
barracks for displaced persons. His family survived the tsunami,
but he lost all his woodworking tools he depended on to support
his family.

Earning a living sorting garbage is tough work. Ridwan and the
other workers have to be extra careful to avoid being injured by
broken glass and rusty nails.

They have been provided with boots and gloves by the UNDP, but
due to handling many sharp objects, their gloves were quickly
damaged. They now work using their bare hands. To expedite their
work, heavy machinery like tractors, have been deployed. They
sometimes find interesting things in the debris.

"We often stumble upon money or gold. We usually divide it
equally among ourselves if the amount is big," said Muhammad, 23,
a fellow worker.

The biggest amount of money they had ever found was Rp 10
million. The notes, all soaked, were covered in mud and garbage.
They had to be separated carefully.

However, they sometimes discover skulls and skeletons. After
finding human remains, they immediately bury them in a proper
manner not far from the place of work.

Since the tsunami, waste has become a serious problem in Aceh.
There are 1,000 garbage trucks, but only in Banda Aceh. Due to
the emergency situation then, debris from the tsunami was
disposed of in various areas without proper foresight, such as in
rivers and rice fields, including in Jawa village. With the
implementation of the UNDP project, a large part of the garbage
will be recycled, such as wood for firewood, or debris to be used
as wave breakers in coastal areas.

"The program which started on April 11 will be carried out for
three months," said UNDP program assistant Muhammad Zaki on waste
recycling matters.

UNDP will coordinate directly with the Banda Aceh Sanitation
and Parks Office in the program.

Zaki acknowledged that he did not know when the total garbage
would be cleaned and sorted. "The main thing is that people's
land and plantations can be used again," he said.

As the program is transitional in nature, the workers have
stated their worries. "We hope to be provided with tools, so that
we can live independently after the program ends," said Ridwan.