Corruption hampers relief efforts in Aceh, claims aid organisation
Jan 6, 05 4:52pm
Corruption among the Indonesian military is hampering relief efforts in Aceh, which is the hardest hit area in the Tsunami disaster.�We are concerned that the big amount of money pumped in to rebuild the region might not be successful if the aid is �controlled� by the military,� said AltAid Aceh-Tsunami representative Alice Nah today.
�They (the military) have prioritised themselves over the Aceh people,� she told a press conference at the United Nations office in Kuala Lumpur.
In view of this, she urged civil society groups, non-governmental organisations and individuals to coordinate with the UN to assist the tsunami victims.
Earlier representatives of the newly-formed AltAid Aceh-Tsunami had handed over a letter to a UN representative highlighting their concerns on the distribution of supply in Aceh.
Nah also suggested that the supplies be directed through civilian channels. Apart from this, Nah said international independent observers should monitor the situation in the province.
She added that the observers should have two goals, the equitable distribution of aid and reconstruction of the area.
Nah also called on journalists from neighbouring countries to investigate whether or not the Acehnese are facing any difficulties in collecting the basic needs supplied to them.
Restore faith Another AltAid Aceh-Tsunami representative Zaitun Kasim said there is an urgent need for the Indonesian authorities to investigate and clarify the corruption particularly among the military personnel stationed there.
�This is the time to restore faith and confidence in the global community,� she added.
Earlier, her colleague Masjaliza Hamzah said the Indonesian government should do away with certain red tapes in the wake of the tsunami disaster to ensure that aid reaches the affected areas in Aceh.
�This is the best opportunity to say that Jakarta cares for the people in Aceh,� she added.
The province, which has been locked in a protracted war for independence, saw tens of thousands perish in the tidal waves.
Bekalan bantuan untuk mangsa tsunami Aceh tersadai di Medan
Jan 5, 05 11:57am
Beribu-ribu tan bekalan makanan dan peralatan lain terkandas di lapangan terbang Medan kerana karenah birokrasi sehingga begitu sukar untuk mendapatkan kebenaran pihak berkuasa Indonesia untuk menghantarnya kepada mangsa tsunami di Aceh.
Bekalan bantuan untuk mangsa tsunami di Aceh kini tergendala di lapangan terbang Medan kerana karenah birokrasi, kata seorang sukarelawan yang berusaha untuk mendapatkan kelulusan bagi menghantar bekalan yang dibawanya.
Lukman Age, pelajar tahun tiga jurusan sains politik di Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), ketika dihubungi melalui telefon semalam berkata, beliau sudah menunggu dua hari untuk mendapatkan kebenaran tersebut, kerana beberapa prosedur rasmi terpaksa dipenuhi terlebih dahulu, sebelum boleh menghantar bantuan tersebut.
�Saya membar lima juta rupiah (kira-kira US$540) untuk sewa sebuah lori. Seorang teman yang cuba membantu orang lain untuk membawa bekalan itu keluar dari lapangan terbang, dengan menggunakan tiga
lori, telah dihalang oleh pegawai kerajaan, yang meminta supaya diserahkan banyak dokumen,� katanya. Lukman, yang berketurunan Aceh kini berada di Medan menunggu kebenaran untuk menghantar makanan, pakaian dan sejumlah wang yang dikutip di USM.
Beliau juga mendakwa sesetengah pihak di Medan mengambil kesempatan daripada keadaan tersebut untuk mengaut keuntungan.
�Tiket penerbangan dari Medan ke Aceh yang biasanya berharga kira-kira 360,000 rupiah (US$39), kini meningkatkan kepada 700,000 rupiah (US$76),� katanya.
Lukman juga mendakwa mi segera yang sepatutnya dihantar kepada mangsa-mangsa tsunami yang kelaparan, telah dijual dengan harga 500 rupiah (US$5.4) sebungkus.
Di samping itu, katanya, terdapat juga banyak pertubuhan-pertubuhan yang mengutip sumbangan untuk mangsa tsunami.
�Kita tidak tahu apakah mereka ini benar atau tidak...saya
rasa sesetengahnya adalah kanak-kanak peminta sedekah di Medah,� katanya.
Tiada rangkaian pengedaran
Presiden Pasukan Palang Merah (RCI) Dr H Basuki Supartono pula berkata satu rangkaian pengedaran yang berkesan amat diperlukan segera bagi membolehkan semua bekalan bantuan sampai kepada mangsa terbabit.
�Kami memerlukan banyak lagi kenderaaan serta rangkaian pengedaran yang berkesan. Kita masih lagi melihat mayat bergelimpangan di jalan (Banda Aceh)," katanya.
Kemudahan perubatan juga diperlukan segera kerana empat daripada enam hospital di Aceh telah musnah dalam bencana tsunami pada 26 Disember lalu. Sumatera terletak paling hampir dengan pusat gerak gempa yang melanda 11 lagi negara di Asia dan Afrika. Basuki berkata sebahagian besar kakitangan perubatan di Aceh terkorban dalam bencana tersebut yang
sehingga ini telah mengorban 80,000 nyawa di Indonesia. Mangsa juga memerlukan segera bekalan air bersih.
Manakala Ketua Pegawai Operasi Mercy, Shareen Shariza Abdul Ghani pula berkata terdapat masalah logistikyang serius di Aceh kerana bencana tersebut telah memusnahkan hampir keseluruhan infrastruktur di wilayah tersebut.
�Kami membawa bersama bekalan perubatan ke Aceh, jadi kami tidak menghadapi masalah tersebut. Pasukan pertama kami membawa kira-kira 300kg bekalan ubat ketika mereka berlepas ke Medan dari Banda Aceh,� katanya.
Katanya, Mercy telah menugaskan 20 orang doktor dalam tiga pasukan yang kini ditempatkan di hospital tentera.
�Mereka semua selamat kerana mereka tinggal dalam kawasan hospital. Saya tidak tahu mengenai kawasan lain kerana saya tiada di sana,� katanya.
Ketua bahagian informasi di Kedutaan Indonesia di Kuala Lumpur, Budhi Rahahdjo ketika dihubungi, berkata terdapat masalah untuk mengagihkan bekalan bantuan ke kawasan
bencana di Aceh.
�Ya, masalah kita adalah penghantaran. Tetapi jika anda mahu tahu lebih lanjut mengenai apa yang sebenarnya berlaku di sana, hubungikan rakan sejawatan anda (wartawan) yang berada di sana. Kami tidak tahu kerana kami tidak berada di sana,� katanya ketika dihubungi semalam.
Bantuan perubatan
Ketua pasukan perubatan PAS ke Aceh, Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad pula menyifatkan keadaan di sana seperti kejadian hari kiamat. �Orang ramai berlari tanpa haluan, mencari orang kesayangan mereka. Sesetengahnya bogel tetapi mereka tidak peduli,� katanya ketika diwawancara sekembalinya ke tanahair Ahad lalu.
Pasukan itu terdiri daripada lima orang doktor yang berpengalaman memberi perkhidmatan perubatan di Afghanistan dan sewaktu kejadian gerak gempa di Iran. Mereka berada di Aceh sejak 28 Disember.
Syed Azman berkata beliau melihat beribu-ribu mayat di jalanraya dan kesan gegaran di dasar laut dapat dirasai sekurang-kurangnya enam kali sehari.
�Kami tidak pernah menyaksikan kemusnahan sedahsyat itu, walaupun di Afghanistan dan Iran. Kami semua begitu terperanjat. Kami tidak mampu menahan air mata ketika melihat kemusnahan yang sedemikian rupa,� tambahnya.
Pasukan perubatan kedua yang terdiri daripada 11 orang doktor yang ditaja oleh PAS akan berlepas ke Aceh dua hari lagi.
Include media, environmental reforms in post-tsunami rehabilitation
Jan 5, 05 3:58pm
Asia's governments have been urged to free the controlled media as well as to beef up natural defence systems to limit the loss of lives in future natural disasters.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) made these suggestions in separate statements issued in the wake of the tsunami that hit 11 countries in Asia and Africa on Dec 26, and which has taken 155,000 lives to date. IFJ president Christopher Warren has written to the United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, �calling on media reform to be a central part of the reconstruction effort following the devastation of the Asian earthquake and tsunami�.
IFJ represents over
500,000 journalists in 105 countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Somalia and Kenya, all of which were affected by the tsunami.
World leaders attending a special summit on tsunami aid - scheduled for Thursday in Jakarta - should be reminded of the importance of a free, independent and open media, Warren told Annan in the letter.
�In the reconstruction of the affected areas, we ask that you urge all countries to continue to build on the process of transparency and democracy,� he said.
�We welcome the decision of the Indonesian government to open up Aceh to both local and foreign journalists. This is an important step in the continuing democratisation of that country.�
Warren said he wanted Annan to convey a �simple message� to those attending the summit that �free media, independent public broadcasters and democratic societies are among the most significant safeguards� against tragedies, now and in the future. Indonesia�s Aceh province was hit first and worst by the tsunami, and almost all of the 94,000 deaths were recorded there.
The province in Sumatra has been closed to the international media, NGOs and humanitarian organisations, while military forces attempted to end a 28-year-old civil strife led by separatists groups.
Warren also welcomed the withdrawal of treason charges against four leading democracy activists in the Maldives, which has suffered extensive damage and mortalities from the tsunami.
�However, it is not too much to say that the inability of journalists in some of the affected countries to simply do their job has cost lives, whether it be through the lack of external journalistic scrutiny in Aceh, the continued repression in the Maldives or the interference in government-run media in Sri Lanka,� added Warren.
Sri Lanka�s official death toll has risen to 30,000 up to today, while 5,000 remain missing. However, the rebel movement - the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealem - has claimed that more than 18,000 are missing in the territories it controls.
Nature saves
FoEI, meanwhile, said nature�s gifts have helpd save lives and prevent the death toll from being even higher when the tsunami struck.
�While the world�s attention is on relief and reconstruction efforts, which is indeed most necessary, FoEI is heartened to note reports that in areas where there were extensive coral reefs and
mangroves forests, the loss of lives and damage appeared to be much less,� its statement read.
FoEI is the world�s largest grassroots environmental federation with 71 national member-groups in 70 countries and more than one million individual members.
Quoting an Asian Wall Street Journal report, FoEI said: �The ring of coral in crystal waters around the Surin Island chain off Thailand's west coast forms a sturdy defence against the sea. So when the tsunami struck, it punched a few holes in the reef, but the structure mostly held firm.�
According to Thai marine environmentalist Thon Thamrongnavasawadi, the reef may have saved many lives. Only a handful of people on the islands are known to have perished. �In Malaysia�s worst hit area, Penang, representatives of the Penang Inshore Fishermen Welfare
Association observed that in areas where the mangrove forests were intact, there were reduced property damage and less impact on the coast,� FoEI said.
(Residents there have been urging the government to stop the clearing of a mangrove forest near the Koay Jetty.)
FoEI also cited examples and statistics to show that parts of India and Sri Lanka with dense mangrove and green belts were spared extensive property damage and recorded fewer casualties.
�Tragically, the full fury and wrath of the waves were felt in areas where nature�s green belts of coral reefs and mangroves no longer exist or were never present in the first place,� it said.
�In many parts of the affected areas where dense mangroves and coral reefs once acted as natural buffers between the sea and coast, other developments (such as) hotels, shrimp farms, coastal highways, housing and commercial
development have taken place.� �For those who were saved by the natural barriers, there is indeed a valuable lesson for all governments. Coastal zones, green belts and other natural barriers must be protected, regenerated and managed in a sustainable way.�
Meanwhile, FoEI mourned the passing of an executive director in one of its member groups - the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) - who was based in Aceh. He died in the disaster together with his wife and child.
�Mohammad Ibrahim was an inspiring activist who was relentless in his efforts to protect the environment of Aceh and its peoples. We in FoEI are deeply pained by his loss and offer our deepest condolences to our friends in Walhi,� the statement added.
Asia's governments have been urged to free the controlled media as well as to beef up natural defence systems to limit the loss of lives in future natural disasters.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) made these suggestions in separate statements issued in the wake of the tsunami that hit 11 countries in Asia and Africa on Dec 26, and which has taken 155,000 lives to date. IFJ president Christopher Warren has written to the United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, �calling on media reform to be a central part of the reconstruction effort following the devastation of the Asian earthquake and tsunami�.
IFJ represents over
500,000 journalists in 105 countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Somalia and Kenya, all of which were affected by the tsunami.
World leaders attending a special summit on tsunami aid - scheduled for Thursday in Jakarta - should be reminded of the importance of a free, independent and open media, Warren told Annan in the letter.
�In the reconstruction of the affected areas, we ask that you urge all countries to continue to build on the process of transparency and democracy,� he said.
�We welcome the decision of the Indonesian government to open up Aceh to both local and foreign journalists. This is an important step in the continuing democratisation of that country.�
Warren said he wanted Annan to convey a �simple message� to those attending the summit that �free media, independent public broadcasters and democratic societies are among the most significant safeguards� against tragedies, now and in the future. Indonesia�s Aceh province was hit first and worst by the tsunami, and almost all of the 94,000 deaths were recorded there.
The province in Sumatra has been closed to the international media, NGOs and humanitarian organisations, while military forces attempted to end a 28-year-old civil strife led by separatists groups.
Warren also welcomed the withdrawal of treason charges against four leading democracy activists in the Maldives, which has suffered extensive damage and mortalities from the tsunami.
�However, it is not too much to say that the inability of journalists in some of the affected countries to simply do their job has cost lives, whether it be through the lack of external journalistic scrutiny in Aceh, the continued repression in the Maldives or the interference in government-run media in Sri Lanka,� added Warren.
Sri Lanka�s official death toll has risen to 30,000 up to today, while 5,000 remain missing. However, the rebel movement - the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealem - has claimed that more than 18,000 are missing in the territories it controls.
Nature saves
FoEI, meanwhile, said nature�s gifts have helpd save lives and prevent the death toll from being even higher when the tsunami struck.
�While the world�s attention is on relief and reconstruction efforts, which is indeed most necessary, FoEI is heartened to note reports that in areas where there were extensive coral reefs and
mangroves forests, the loss of lives and damage appeared to be much less,� its statement read.
FoEI is the world�s largest grassroots environmental federation with 71 national member-groups in 70 countries and more than one million individual members.
Quoting an Asian Wall Street Journal report, FoEI said: �The ring of coral in crystal waters around the Surin Island chain off Thailand's west coast forms a sturdy defence against the sea. So when the tsunami struck, it punched a few holes in the reef, but the structure mostly held firm.�
According to Thai marine environmentalist Thon Thamrongnavasawadi, the reef may have saved many lives. Only a handful of people on the islands are known to have perished. �In Malaysia�s worst hit area, Penang, representatives of the Penang Inshore Fishermen Welfare
Association observed that in areas where the mangrove forests were intact, there were reduced property damage and less impact on the coast,� FoEI said.
(Residents there have been urging the government to stop the clearing of a mangrove forest near the Koay Jetty.)
FoEI also cited examples and statistics to show that parts of India and Sri Lanka with dense mangrove and green belts were spared extensive property damage and recorded fewer casualties.
�Tragically, the full fury and wrath of the waves were felt in areas where nature�s green belts of coral reefs and mangroves no longer exist or were never present in the first place,� it said.
�In many parts of the affected areas where dense mangroves and coral reefs once acted as natural buffers between the sea and coast, other developments (such as) hotels, shrimp farms, coastal highways, housing and commercial
development have taken place.� �For those who were saved by the natural barriers, there is indeed a valuable lesson for all governments. Coastal zones, green belts and other natural barriers must be protected, regenerated and managed in a sustainable way.�
Meanwhile, FoEI mourned the passing of an executive director in one of its member groups - the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) - who was based in Aceh. He died in the disaster together with his wife and child.
�Mohammad Ibrahim was an inspiring activist who was relentless in his efforts to protect the environment of Aceh and its peoples. We in FoEI are deeply pained by his loss and offer our deepest condolences to our friends in Walhi,� the statement added.
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