Tsunami remembered: The sad truth of the compassion industry

Thang D. Nguyen, Nias, North Sumatra

One year ago, the Asian tsunami happened. Of all the affected countries, Indonesia experienced the worst human losses and physical damages caused by the tsunami of Dec. 26 and its related earthquakes.

More than 130,000 persons died, and about 40,000 remain missing, while about 500,000 were made homeless in the province of Aceh and the island of Nias, both in northern Sumatra.

As we look back at this tragedy, it is heartening to see the assistance that the world has been giving Indonesia since last December.

First, many countries sent aid supplies, volunteers and transport and heavy equipment to help with the immediate relief efforts. Next, the international community pledged about US$7 billion to help Indonesia rebuild its tsunami-affected areas.

And since last December, about 200 international aid agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been working in Aceh and Nias building homes for tsunami survivors and helping them rebuild their lives.

The good news is, as of now, 16,000 homes have been built in Aceh and about 8,000 in Nias, according to the Aceh and Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR).

But, the bad news is 67,500 families still live in tents both in Aceh and Nias. In other words, only 15 percent of 308,000 homes that need to be built in affected areas have been completed or are under construction.

For the less fortunate families that are still living in tents, the tsunami is far from over as they continue to live in a mixture of fear, hope and frustration.

"We know a lot of money is going to Aceh, but where is it? Where are the buildings? Where is the construction?" asked Mr. Zoelfitri, a tsunami survivor who lives with his family in a shanty in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh, as quoted by Associated Press.

Zoelfitri is right: The slow progress in the reconstruction of tsunami-affected areas is not because a lack of financial resources.

Thus far, Indonesia has received about $4.5 billion out of $7 billion pledged by the international community to rebuild tsunami-affected areas. The Indonesian government estimates that it needs between $5-5.5 billion over a period of three years for this.

The main problem, rather, is a lack of coordination, or management, of financial resources among all NGOs and other parties involved in the rebuilding of Aceh and Nias. Seriously, who is monitoring the aid among parties that receive it?

Answer: Not the BRR! In other words, BRR serves as a government-appointed umbrella that all NGOs and parties working on the Aceh have to register with and report to, and that is about it.

So long as these organizations report regularly to BRR officials, give them a tour to see some sample houses, let them shake hands with the victims and smile for the camera, everything is fine. What they actually do with aid money -- whether from their own budgets or international donations -- is their business, something which, according to BRR, it does not interfere with.

But the question remains, what has happened to the $4.5 billion that has been collected for the rebuilding of Aceh and Nias, aside from what has been used to build new homes for survivors?

The answer to this question is three-fold. First, bureaucracy in all organizations -- private, public or otherwise -- delays the delivery of aid money to recipient parties, who need funds to do their jobs.

Second, aid money in Aceh and Nias -- and other parts of the world, for that matter -- are not fully delivered to tsunami- related projects due to corruption among officials and other individuals involved in the process. This means that, from the time donors deliver their pledged aid to the time when it reaches the funded projects, it has been skimmed.

Third, and finally, a big chunk of aid money is spent on NGOs that get funding for their projects in Aceh and Nias. It is typical that NGOs bill donors for their administrative and overhead costs as part of the aid they receive for their work.

But, alas, aside from their salaries and fancy offices, NGO workers, mostly foreigners, get driven around in fancy cars; use expensive laptops; fly in either on first class or business class; stay in five-star hotels; and get lucrative allowances and compensation packages for their "work-related" travels.

These luxuries -- you guessed it -- do not come cheap. And guess what, they are all billed as part of projects that NGOs get funded for!

This means that the money that NGOs spent on such luxury items could have gone to tsunami victims and their families, who have been getting by on international handouts and living in tents.

As former Economist correspondent Graham Hancock pointed out in his book Lords of Poverty, this is the sad truth about the compassion industry, which includes NGOs, aid groups and development workers.

Tsunami victims and their families have already suffered enough from this tragedy. And, therefore, the last thing they need now is to see NGOs and aid workers, who are supposed to help them, benefit or make a profit from the aid money that the Acehnese people deserve.

The writer is a Jakarta-based columnist. His writing can be read at www.thangthecolumnist.blogspot.com.