See sincerity in foreign help

See sincerity in foreign help

V.K. Chin, The Star/Asia News Network, Selangor, Malaysia

Indonesia's clarification that there is no fixed date for
foreign military personnel involved in relief work in Aceh to
leave its soil following the Dec. 26 tsunami should be welcomed
by countries whose forces are operating there.

The Indonesian government has clarified that March 26 was
merely a date by which it will hope to play a larger role in the
reconstruction and rebuilding of Aceh province, which is the most
badly-hit region in the disaster.

Actually, it may be premature for Jakarta to set any deadline
and three months is definitely not enough to complete the
rehabilitation work and it will certainly take much longer than
that. In fact, this task may last for years.

However, it is unlikely that the foreign troops deployed on
this humanitarian mission would wish to stay longer than
necessary and the terse statement by Indonesia's vice-president
had given the impression that the foreign assistance was not
appreciated.

Also, it gave the impression that the foreign troops were a
nuisance or that they were interfering in the internal affairs of
the republic.

The foreign governments engaged in the rescue work are not
only using their own troops for this purpose but are providing
such services free of charge. They are doing it purely for
humanitarian reasons and it is surely inappropriate to question
their motive.

The services provided by the foreign troops, especially the
Americans, have helped to save thousands of lives by providing
medical supplies, food and clean water to the surviving victims.

Their helicopters were able to reach many of the outlying
areas that were cut off from the rest of the province as most of
the roads and infrastructure were destroyed by the tsunami.

Even three weeks after the incident, it is still not certain
whether the foreigners and the locals have been able to reach all
the affected areas. Some Indonesian politicians and military
officers may dislike the idea that foreign helicopters are having
a free run of the area.

But if they are really interested in helping their own people,
then they should not harbour such ideas. If anyone has an agenda
it is these officials and not the foreign troops.

Some of them may wish to use the disaster to demoralise the
Acehnese separatist movement, which has resulted in thousands of
people killed in the last few decades.

There is little love lost between the two parties which have
been engaged in combat for many years without any conclusive
outcome. Hopefully, the two duelling parties will use the
disaster to settle their differences, but there are few signs
that this is happening.

At the same time, it is doubtful that the foreign forces would
wish to stay for years to help out in the massive task of just
rebuilding the infrastructure, such as essential facilities such
as hospitals and schools.

These facilities are very important so that life can return to
normal as quickly as possible. The Indonesians should be grateful
for such foreign assistance, not that the foreign governments
expect any.

The disaster has evoked a strong reaction from other
countries, especially the Western ones, and they would like their
governments to do as much as possible to relieve the suffering of
the victims.

They have themselves donated generously to the relief fund and
the least the Indonesian government can do is to reciprocate by
making it easier for the foreign troops and civilians to do their
relief work.