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Hard going on Aceh's road to recovery Published: July 21 2009 17:21 | Last updated: July 21 2009 17:21 Cut Nur Laili, the head of an agriculture office in the village of Kampung Baru, 25km north of the central Aceh town of Calang, says the road being built down the west coast cannot be finished soon enough. "Farmers' earnings are down about 50 per cent because the tsunami destroyed so many rice fields," she says of the 2004 disaster. "We need all the help we can get as soon as possible." The work to rebuild the 115km road from Banda Aceh, capital of the Indonesian province that bore the brunt of the tsunami, to Calang has come to epitomise the progress of the reconstruction effort. Much of the road, a lifeline for many villages, was badly damaged and large sections devoured by the sea in the Boxing day catastrophe. The tsunami caused the world's biggest natural disaster in decades, killing 230,000 people in 12 countries around the Indian Ocean as waves up to 30m high crashed ashore from Madagascar to Malaysia. In some parts of Aceh, the death rate was more than 99 per cent and hundreds of square kilometres of land were lost to the sea. The US government decided it could best contribute to Aceh's reconstruction by making the road the focus of its efforts. Washington's feeling was that in addition to the road's practical benefits, it would be a grand piece of public diplomacy to build closer ties with the region. Completed sections of the $240m (?168m, £146m) project rank among the best roads in Indonesia. Alas, they account for less than half the total length. Land acquisition has been the biggest problem. Irwandi Yusuf, the provincial governor, partly blames the US Agency for International Development for changing the route repeatedly. But like most people involved, he says weak local government has been the biggest obstacle to keeping the project on schedule. Buni Amin, the senior civil servant in Aceh Jaya district, says his predecessor never wanted to negotiate with land claimants whereas he makes weekly trips. "This road should have been the local government's highest priority because it's our lifeblood," he says. "Only five out of the 23 government buildings we need have been completed and the authorities in Banda Aceh say it's because of the road." Distrust of outsiders, exacerbated by post-traumatic stress, further complicate matters along with the appearance of new claimants like bees to honey. Satya Tripathi, head of the United Nations office in Aceh, says: "There were a lot of unreasonable demands from a lot of communities. But from different perspectives there are different views. And you want communities to be part of reconstruction." Anti-US attitudes among local people, exacerbated by the hawkish policies on the Middle East of the George W.?Bush era, were another factor. Muhammad Yasin, whose family sold land 20km north of Calang for the road, says: "It took a long time to convince us that the Americans weren't trying to cheat us. We weren't sure whose side they were really on." Mr Yasin is now glad he sold because he set up a roadside food stall and the family's monthly income has doubled. Rebuilding Indonesia's Aceh province The west coast of Indonesia's Aceh province was the area most devastated by the 9.1 magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami that struck on December 26, 2004 and affected 13 countries around the Indian Ocean. Ahead of the closure of the Indonesian government agency created to oversee reconstruction, FT Jakarta correspondent John Aglionby spent three days travelling from Banda Aceh to Calang to assess how well the government and the more than 430 aid agencies spent the $6.7bn donated for reconstruction. The inside of the new Banda Aceh tsunami museum. The building doubles as an evacuation centre in case of a similar disaster. These cattle are regular users of a road near the rebuilt Lafarge cement plant seen in the distance in Lhok Nga. Just in case you forgot who built the road. An enterprising fish trader and his son drive on an uncompleted stretch of the road that snakes along Aceh province's west coast. More than four years after the tsunami, many villages along the road have yet to be rebuilt. In case you forgot who built the school. Such subtle 'flag waving' is omnipresent in reconstructed areas. Some donors, such as the Turks, even built their flag into the houses they built. Most people don't mind, however, because the flag closely resembles the Free Aceh movement separatists' flag! A Madjit, who lost 28 of the 31 members in his family in the tsunami, relaxes in a roadside café. He now lives in a house built by the government's reconstruction agency (BRR) and is very happy with it. Road construction in the village of Blangme. This ferry is the only way across a river near the town of Lamno because a dispute between USAid and contractor Widya Karya halted construction of a new bridge. The bridge is now left far from completion. This is the state of the main west coast road just south of Lamno. During the wet season, it was often impassable to some traffic. This concrete object in the water is all that remains of a pre-tsunami bridge south of the town of Lamno. Locals said most of this bridge was on dry land, across a river. Thus the photo shows how much land was lost to the tsunami. Jauhari Jelani and his wife Siti Hajar in their shop in Kuala Bakong. They built it out of the temporary shelter they were given shortly after the tsunami struck. Their daily sales have dropped from Rp1.5m ($139) to, on a good day, Rp100,000 - just one example of the authorities' failure to develop a sustainable economy in the tsunami's aftermath. Shalan, Sayusi and Cut Nur Laili, the three employees in the Kampung Baru sub-district agriculture department office. Their limited facilities are typical of many local government offices in Aceh. The 'hardware', such as the building, is there but much of the 'software' is still lacking. It's rare not to see a stunning sunset on the west coast of Aceh. These trees are a reminder of the role fate, fortune and luck played in surviving the tsunami. A person who climbed one of the trees still standing said those who sought refuge atop these trees survived; those who chose to climb the other trees perished. People had no way of knowing which trees would withstand being swept away by the tsunami and which wouldn't. Although the road is set for completion next year, many local officials have their doubts. USaid declined to comment. Officials accept it will be years before district authorities deliver a sustainable recovery because many areas are run by former separatists with little administrative experience. "It will take five to 10 years for our human resources to get to the right quantity and who knows for quality," says Mr Buni from Aceh Jaya. "That's the price of democracy following 29 years of conflict." Mr Tripathi says reconstruction has been largely successful but accepts the effort has been hampered by substandard construction and poor planning. On the positive side, he he cites the delivery of 94 per cent of aid pledges, extremely high by international disaster standards. "It's a completely different Aceh now," he says. "I think the grandmother in Oxford who gave money should be happy. She's put a smile on faces of children halfway around the world." More than four years after they lost everything in the tsunami, Siti Hajar and her husband Jauhari Jelani seem to be leading normal lives Kuala Bakong village. They moved into a new house three years ago and cannibalised the Red Cross shelter that had been their home to build a shop in this village 100km along the road south of Banda Aceh. But appearances are deceptive. "In one sense we were lucky in that we got a house quickly and so we could build our shop," Mrs Siti says. "But houses that were built later are much better. Who knows how long ours will last?" Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, head of the Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency, the body that oversaw the $6.7bn reconstruction, agrees."I would say 20-30 per cent of the 140,000 houses built are sub-standard. At the beginning, there was pressure to do everything immediately and so mistakes were made. But we learnt," he adds [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
