Refugees International: Articles: Indonesia: Rebuilding Aceh, Problems and Progress

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Indonesia: Rebuilding Aceh, Problems and Progress

Indonesia 2004: Tsunami Rescue Workers in Banda Aceh
photo credit: Reuters/Darren Whiteside, courtesy www.alertnet.org
01/11/2005

Read more about the tsunami on our regularly updated Tsunami Crisis Page.

Banda Aceh is two towns. One is the pile of rubble, mud and bodies that the world saw on TV. The other, on the protected, eastern side of the island of Sumatra, is largely undamaged. In the extensive untouched areas life is normal, the crops are good, and the downtown market in Banda Aceh is full of vegetables, fruit and produce; trading is brisk. A significant problem is street traffic, with big trucks from many nations and organizations everywhere.

We attempted to drive down the 100-mile coastal road between Banda Aceh and Meulaboh. After travelling about 10 miles south, a washed out bridge stopped travel. The entire length of the road has been cleared by snowplow-like bulldozers, except the "drifts" are five foot high piles of junk and debris. Anyone below that area is without direct relief except for what is dropped from helicopters or, importantly, what local Indonesian people can supply to their neighbors. This includes a large area around Meulaboh where the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) informally estimates there are 30,000 survivors. Another estimate is that there are 67,000 survivors along the rest of that coast.

A major problem is the lack of an adequate landing strip at Meulaboh, thus anyone going there must travel three hours each way from a nearby airport. The US military, either Navy Seabees or Army Engineers, could perform a huge service by putting down a C-130-capable landing strip in Meulaboh to increase the flow of aid. The Air Force could set up a portable, and temporary air traffic control facility, called a TALCE, there as well. A strip made of perforated steel plate could be put down quickly and endure the wet weather to meet immediate humanitarian needs.

The provincial studios of TVRI, the national TV network, have been turned into a refugee camp, and a large, competent staff of Jordanian doctors is treating patients by the hundred. There are distressing reports that the Indonesian government is considering making some camps permanent, rather than working with local officials and relief agencies to help people return to, rebuild or construct new homes and businesses as quickly as possible.

As military assistance, relief workers and supplies and services flow into Aceh, coordination remains a problem. A recent series of meetings of relief agencies and UN officials made progress in listing the greatest needs and showing which agencies are addressing those needs and where. Unfortunately, there were no representatives of the Indonesian government at the meetings.

Earlier this week the Indonesian government announced plans to require humanitarian workers and UN agencies to get permits to work outside of Banda Aceh and Meulaboh. The government said that the change would enable the Indonesian military to provide adequate security in areas where independence fighters are active. Some groups said that the new policy will slow or complicate the delivery of aid.

Refugees International Vice President Joel Charny and RI consultant Jay McNaughton are surveying tsunami damage and reconstruction in Indonesia. Their first report is from Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh, the hardest hit region.