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.