Thousands of Aceh refugees to move to new barracks

Thousands of Aceh refugees to move to new barracks

Fadli and Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Thousands of Acehnese people taking refuge in public buildings
following the Dec. 26 tsunami disaster will begin moving into new
temporary accommodation on Tuesday, local officials say.

In the first phase, more than 425 families occupying the Aceh
provincial legislature building, the Banda Aceh sports stadium,
mosques and school buildings will be given priority to move into
around 237 units of new housing completed during the past two
months, local officials said.

"Those occupying public buildings and offices will be given
the first opportunity to move into the accommodation. They will
be transported with five buses from the local transportation
office under the supervision of subdistrict heads and local
community leaders," Banda Aceh Mayor Mawardy Nurdin said here on
Monday.

The data on refugees occupying the public buildings was at
hand and the refugees had already been informed about the move
and where they would go, he said.

Those occupying public buildings were prioritized so that
these buildings could be freed for their original use, he said.

Mawardy assured the placement of refugees would occur
smoothly. The relevant authorities, local leaders and non-
governmental organizations were all coordinating to help the
refugees, he said.

Many refugees in the city have opposed being put into the
temporary housing constructed near the baldly hit Meuraxa and
Lhoknga subdistricts. Many still fear other tsunamis after
frequent smaller aftershocks have rocked the city during the past
six weeks.

Aceh Besar Regent Rusli Muhammad said local authorities would
not use force to relocate refugees. The relocations would be
conducted in phases because many of the planned houses were still
under construction, he said.

Meanwhile, Totok Pri, the director of the local development
planning board, said local authorities had faced many problems
that have contributed to the late construction of the refugee
housing.

"The short supply of timber, lack of transportation facilities
and clear land are the three main factors that have contributed
to the late construction," he said. So far only 237 units of
housing had been completed while the remaining 566 units were
still under construction, he said.

According to the grand plan, the government would build a
total of 803 units of housing to temporarily accommodate 9,730
families living public buildings and tents in refugee areas in
the province before they were permanently resettled in new
housing townships constructed by the government with financial
assistance from foreign countries and international agencies.
These second-stage reconstruction efforts were scheduled to start
in March.

Four state-owned enterprises -- PT Nindya Karya, Wijaya Karta,
PT Waskita Karya and PT Pembangunan Perumahan -- will build the
housing under the supervision of the Ministry of Regional
Resettlement and Infrastructure.

The financing would be covered by the 2005 state budget, he
said.