Published by Roy on Dec 2007 at 04:06 pm
3 Years after the tsunami more than 10,000 Acehnese still living in shelters
3 years on, tsunami victims await help
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia–Three years have passed since the massive earthquake off Sumatra, Indonesia, and the subsequent tsunami. But people in Indonesia’s Aceh Province, the area worst affected by the disaster, are still struggling, living in relief housing for tsunami victims that often lacks electricity or water supply. More than 10,000 people continue to live in emergency shelters.
In Neuheun in northern Aceh Province, houses with eye-catching yellow walls stand on a hill above the port. Chinese characters on the gate to the area read “Indonesia-China Friendship Village,” indicating that the new housing was constructed with aid from China.
Although more than 600 such houses were built for tsunami victims, 20 percent of them remain vacant as they lack electricity or water supply. There is one communal tap, but it is hundreds of meters from many of the houses.
A haulage company charges about 20,000 rupiah (2 dollars) to deliver 500 liters of water from the tap to a house.
“The residents here earn about 10,000 rupiah a day. We can’t afford to pay a company to deliver the water, so I wonder if it would be better to stay in one of the shelters,” said Rusdi, a 40-year-old school clerk. Many other housing developments in the province have similar problems.
In Bakoy, also in northern Aceh, about 600 people from 190 households are living in shelters, with only thin plywood divides for privacy.
“The government told us we could get out of the shelters in two years. But I’ve been here for three years,” said Muhammad Nasir Ibrahim, a 28-year-old former fisherman.
According to the Aceh Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency, 103,000 of the targeted 120,000 houses have so far been built. People who owned land before the disaster were given priority in the allocation of relief housing. Those who did not own land were left out. A total of 10,000 people from 3,700 households in the province continue to live in the shelters.
Many of the foreign relief organizations have withdrawn from the area, making residents worry that the international community is losing interest in them.
“Financial support for the weak and vulnerable is going to be a more important issue in the days ahead,” a worker at the local relief organization said.
I find this situation very disturbing, with all the funds that are available, I don’t understand why this is not solved. I have been back and forth to Aceh 19 times since January 2005 as tsunami relief coordinator. In August 2006 we started Laga Handbags to help tsunami survivors with jobs and hope for a better future. We are looking for like minded individuals/companies to help us. Please feel free to contact me via email, roy@laga-handbags.com.
Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year 2008…..
BagMan aka Roy van Broekhuizen, Chairman & CEO Laga Designs International, Inc.
Irvine, California
December 28, 2007
