Red Cross to embark on massive reconstruction project in Aceh
Red Cross to embark on massive reconstruction project in Aceh
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and dozens of its international
counterparts are teaming up to take an active role in the
rehabilitation and reconstruction of Aceh and North Sumatra, Red
Cross representatives said on Wednesday.
In meetings that began earlier this week, 32 Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies of a total of about 180 worldwide met in
Jakarta to lay down a solid plan of action for rehabilitation and
reconstruction in the tsunami-affected areas.
The meeting was organized by PMI with the support of the
International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent
societies (IFRC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC).
The final draft of the project will likely be finished soon,
at which time it "will be delivered to the government as an input
and contribution for the government's consideration," according
to a press statement.
The project, if approved, will last for at least five years
and will cover a wide and comprehensive range of humanitarian
assistance, including basic health care, hospital upgrades, water
distribution and sanitation, food and non-food relief
distribution, rebuilding of schools and clinics (locally known as
Puskesmas), psychological support, family reunification and
income-generation support.
"The people in Aceh need sustainable income so we are
committed to helping them," said Mar'ie Muhammad, the PMI chief.
"We are now in a transitional period from emergency to
rehabilitation and reconstruction. The 32 societies represented
at the meeting acknowledged the need for a stronger and better-
organized plan of action. To build is not difficult, but
maintaining what has been built, is," Mar'ie explained.
PMI, which does not usually help in reconstruction phases
after disasters, will assist the government, due to the large
scale of the calamity and crucial land problems, according to Ole
Johan Hauge, ICRC's Head of Delegation for Indonesia.
Johan Schaar, Special Representative of the IFRC Secretary
General for tsunami operations, said, "It is our obligation to
support PMI, which needs capacity-building (to improve) its
ability to provide humanitarian aid. Our mandate is to coordinate
and act when natural disasters happen."
Both Schaar and Hauge added that the long-term projects would
not take over the government's role in handling the aid effort in
the wake of the catastrophe. Instead, PMI will provide an
"auxiliary function" in supporting and providing contributions
based on the government's plan and regulations. The plan will be
consistent with the local and national culture and religious
values.
"It is therefore important to keep the local and national Red
Cross at the center, which was why PMI invited their Aceh branch
members for a meeting in Lhokseumawe in early January to gather
information on what kind of help was needed in the area," Hauge
said.
The size of the budget for the project would be difficult to
calculate, according to Mar'ie and Hauge, as help would be given
in cash and in kind on a per project basis. Instead of allocating
a specific budget, donation requests will be made each time a
project's assessment comes out for specific areas.
Mar'ie said that about 10 community health centers and 10
primary schools would be built in Aceh as part of the first
phase. He added that the projects would also be focus on
improving PMI's expertise and human resources nationwide.
"Capacity-building is important because Indonesia is highly prone
to many kinds of disasters," he said.(005)