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.