Tsunami survivors grow weary of wait for homes

Tsunami survivors grow weary of wait for homes

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Khairil Anwar acknowledged he felt depressed. The head of
Lamdingin village in Lambaro Skep district in Banda Aceh is under
pressure from village residents desperately in need of houses.

"They are tired of living in tents for displaced persons and
asked me to find new funding sources to build them houses,"
Khairil told The Jakarta Post.

Village's residents were promised houses funded by the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) in March. But almost a year after the
tsunami devastated nearly one third of Aceh's territory on Dec.
26, 2004 Lamdingin residents are still living in tents, which
have started to fall apart.

There were non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that had come
to the village, offering to build houses for the residents but
Khairil had to turn them down since he held on to the bank's
promise. But tired of waiting, the residents have started to push
him to get new funding sources.

"I feel that ADB is a big institution, and it will make not
only houses but supporting facilities. That's why I am still
pinning my hopes on the bank," Khairil said, adding that the
bank, which under the plan will build around 200 houses, has
again made contact, asking the residents to be patient.

Promises to assist with reconstruction work in Aceh are
nothing new. Many villages are waiting for those promises to
materialize, although they have had to turn down assistance
offered by other organizations.

"Every day there's an NGO which comes and asks questions and
collects data but none of them come through (with any
assistance). They simply leave after getting the necessary data,"
said Neneh, a resident of Lampaseh village, who is still living
in a tent.

Many residents are putting up with the inconvenience and are
waiting but there were those who were losing their patience, like
Punge Ujung residents in Banda Aceh. Together they took down the
World Vision sign, claiming it had failed to keep its promise to
build them houses.

Responding to the problem, the Rehabilitation and
Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias is currently screening
all NGOs in Aceh.

"If their plans do not materialize by December, they can leave
Aceh," Sudirman Said, the agency's deputy of information,
communication and institutional relation, told the Post.

Currently, he said, there are around 178 registered NGOs
working to assist tsunami victims in Aceh, fewer than the 438
organizations recorded in May this year.

The government registered foreign NGOs before screening them
to decide which groups would be allowed to stay in Aceh. Only
NGOs linked to the United Nations and donor countries will be
allowed to continue their humanitarian work there.

"For NGOs promising to build houses, please build houses.
Don't just make scale models of the houses," Sudirman said.