AS THE 1.2m-long rattan cane landed across his back, the 37-year-old pedicab driver felt more than just pain.
He also felt shame as six times the 1cm thick cane came down upon him.
Then he felt angry. The crowd which had gathered to witness the spectacle of his court-imposed 40 strokes of the cane being dished out could clearly see the humiliated man's face and identity.
But the identity of the man wielding the cane was hidden behind a mask.
On the seventh stroke, the man could take it no longer and fainted.
The full 40 strokes would have to wait for another day.
Saifullah Bin Ali's crime was drinking alcohol – scotch and vodka – in a place which forbids the consumption of alcohol by its majority Muslim population.
The men who had caught him – the Wilayatul Hisbah – might share the same name as their counterparts in Saudi Arabia in the feared Vice and Virtue squad – but Mr Bin Ali's crime was committed in a place much closer to Australia.
He is one of about 135 people caned in Aceh, the so-called "veranda of Mecca", in the past 15 months for crimes such as drinking or selling alcohol, having sexual relations outside marriage and gambling.
The Indonesian province that was so devastated by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami has had the right to enforce Sharia or Koranic law since 1999 but it has only been since August last year that it has begun using the harsher sentencing regime and conducting public canings.
While in other provinces Sharia-inspired Government by-laws are being enacted to enforce such things as Islamic dress codes for bureaucrats, Aceh is the first Indonesian province to enact Sharia and then use the courts to enforce its punishment.
So far the laws do not go so far as to allow the more feared punishments of stoning or the lopping-off of hands but there are draft proposals to go one step further – to allow the tips of fingers to be cut off for the crime of stealing.
Last week The Sunday Mail went on patrol with the Sharia police in the Acehnese capital, Banda Aceh, as they cruised the streets looking for young unmarried couples showing too much affection and for women flouting the rules that demand all females must wear the jilbab or headscarf and must not wear tight and figure-hugging clothes.
Female officers carry with them leaflets showing diagrams of appropriate and inappropriate dress, which mark figure-hugging clothes and women without headscarves with a red cross.
Caught in an embrace at the ferry terminal, Linda, 20, and her boyfriend, Agus, 22, are horrified and humiliated. Linda hangs her head in shame and averts her gaze as an officer delivers a stern lecture.
"You are not married. It is not good to sit here any longer like this. For any couple sitting like this there will be more temptation," the officer says, warning them that "following temptation" is illicit sex outside marriage.
The officer wants Linda and Agus to ride back to the Sharia police office in the team's clearly marked wagon in order to make statements and for them to be given the first of three official warnings, after which more serious action would be taken.
But they are embarrassed – they don't want to risk the chance of any family members or friends seeing them under the guard of the Sharia police.
Eventually a compromise is worked out – they hand over their ID cards and promise to visit the office the next day to sign warning statements.
Further on, another couple are fishing together at Ulee Lheue. Quickly they pull out their marriage certificates to prove their closeness is legal but even so they get a little lecture from the brown-uniformed men – it's time for the Maghrib dusk prayer soon and it's not good to be out after dark.
But the couple don't mind the interruption and support the Sharia police 100 per cent.
An Islamic teacher, Mawardi Siregar, in fact thinks the Sharia police are not active enough in using their powers.
"Shariat Islam in Aceh is only lipstick," Mr Siregar says, explaining his view that the way it is being enforced at present is window dressing and nowhere near as effective as it should be.
His is not a view shared by Syarifah Rahmatillah, the director of an Acehnese women's group.
As she prepared to travel to Mecca to make the haj pilgrimage, Ms Rahmatillah said Islam was a flexible religion and women should not be forced to wear the headscarf.
Religion should come from the heart, not because of political reasons, she adds.
And the laws have been criticised as promoting vigilantism in the community and unfairly targeting women and the poor.
Officials disagree, saying that jailing a family's breadwinner brings hardship to the whole family. Caning him does not.
The next young couple to be stopped by the Sharia officers are not so happy about the interruption.
They may be male and female but they are not boyfriend and girlfriend and they are not being intimate as they sit by the ocean for what they say is a friendly chat.
On it goes. As evening falls, the truck drives around darkened parks and housing estates, looking for couples doing the wrong thing.
People are clearly wary to the point of being frightened of these men in brown shirts. One young couple quickly split and run in opposite directions.
Women pull scarves from their shoulders to their heads as they spot the police coming in their direction.
A small, blue booklet titled The Law of Islam in Aceh at a Glance gives the details and the history of how a form of Sharia law came to be implemented in Aceh after first being mooted in 1948.
It came eventually in 1999, when Aceh was granted special autonomy from Jakarta as part of a package aimed at ending the three decades of conflict with the Free Aceh Movement, also known as GAM.
In the end it was the tsunami that provided the final impetus to end the civil war, and tomorrow the province will hold its first free elections since the peace agreement.
It comes as the second anniversary of the tsunami approaches.
With the earthquake epicentre off Indonesia, Aceh bore the brunt of the resulting waves that washed away the lives of up to 160,000 people in Indonesia.
Many in Aceh said at the time it was God's will and punishment for their wayward morals. The full implementation of Sharia came after the natural disaster.
The blue book lists the crimes and the punishment, including:
• Not going to the mosque for Friday prayers on three occasions: six months' jail or three strokes of the cane.
• Eating and drinking in public during the fasting month: four months' jail or two strokes of the cane.
• Consuming alcohol: 40 strokes of the cane.
• Committing an immoral act such as sex outside marriage: maximum nine strokes of the cane and minimum three strokes and/or a fine.
The book includes grainy but graphic images of bare buttocks being caned in Malaysia, Pakistan and Singapore.
The purpose of this, according to Natsir Illyas, the director at the Banda Aceh Sharia police office, is to show that Aceh's version of caning is much more humane and much less painful than in other countries that mete out the punishment.
Wielding one of the canes, which he says must be the regulation 1.2m long, Mr Illyas demonstrates how the caner must have a straight arm at all times and not bent, thus reducing the force behind the blow.
And if blood is drawn, the caning must stop immediately.
A doctor must be on hand at all times to monitor the cane.
Mr Illyas says the point of public caning in Aceh, usually after Friday prayers, is not to inflict torture or pain but to bring shame and embarrassment on the "canees" and educate them that their actions are wrong.
Pedicab driver Mr Bin Ali disagrees.
To the contrary, the seven canes he endured four months ago before collapsing were, according to him, very painful indeed.
To prove the point, he lifts his shirt, pointing to the marks across his back, saying that the welts had extended to his upper arms as well.
Mr Bin Ali, a Muslim, disagrees with caning as a punishment and believes Sharia law has gone too far.
"I felt sad because I was caned in front of all the people and also I couldn't see the face of the person caning me," Mr Bin Ali says.
"I was in tears when I was being caned because I was very ashamed and I couldn't see the executioner's face.
"I wanted to see his face clearly."
With so many Westerners and non-Muslims now in Aceh helping with tsunami reconstruction, there has been a grey area over whether the laws pertain to non-Muslims.
Mr Musdaruddin, the director of the Provincial Islamic Sharia Implementation office, says they don't – but officials ask Westerners in Aceh to respect the local laws even though they are exempt from arrest or caning.
And Mr Musdaruddin says the number of people being caned has decreased in recent months – evidence, he says, that the laws are working and that their educational purpose is successful.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,20898999-5003406,00.html
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Friday, December 1, 2006
Strong quake hits Indonesia's north Sumatra
JAKARTA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - A strong earthquake of magnitude 6.3 hit the northern part of Indonesia's Sumatra island on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site, although no damage or casualties were immediately reported.
The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 10.58 a.m. (0358 GMT), was located 50 km (31 miles) south-east of the city of Medan at a depth of 215 km, the U.S. agency said.
Officials in Medan told Reuters the quake was not felt in the North Sumatra provincial capital, which is also Indonesia's third largest city.
The meteorology office in Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra originally measured it at magnitude of 6.6.
The quake was felt in at least two cities in that province but no damage had been reported, said Syahnan Sobri, head of the Aceh office.
"It felt like a big truck just passed by in Banda Aceh and Meulaboh. I am confused why a quake in North Sumatra could be felt in those cities when people near the epicentre were not affected," Sobri told Reuters by phone from Banda Aceh, about 500 km (310 miles) from the epicentre.
He said there was no risk of a tsunami being triggered by the quake.
Earthquakes occur frequently in Indonesia, which lies along the "Pacific Ring of Fire".
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/JAK228706.htm
The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 10.58 a.m. (0358 GMT), was located 50 km (31 miles) south-east of the city of Medan at a depth of 215 km, the U.S. agency said.
Officials in Medan told Reuters the quake was not felt in the North Sumatra provincial capital, which is also Indonesia's third largest city.
The meteorology office in Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra originally measured it at magnitude of 6.6.
The quake was felt in at least two cities in that province but no damage had been reported, said Syahnan Sobri, head of the Aceh office.
"It felt like a big truck just passed by in Banda Aceh and Meulaboh. I am confused why a quake in North Sumatra could be felt in those cities when people near the epicentre were not affected," Sobri told Reuters by phone from Banda Aceh, about 500 km (310 miles) from the epicentre.
He said there was no risk of a tsunami being triggered by the quake.
Earthquakes occur frequently in Indonesia, which lies along the "Pacific Ring of Fire".
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/JAK228706.htm
Conflict victims threaten to boycott Aceh elections
Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
Dozens of people claiming to be victims of the conflict in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam rallied in front of the Independent Commission for Elections in Banda Aceh on Thursday, threatening to boycott the upcoming regional elections.
The protesters complained none of the candidates had promised to address the gross human rights violations that occurred during Aceh's long and bloody separatist conflict.
The vote scheduled on Dec. 11 will choose a new governor and 21 regents for the province.
"I hope the gubernatorial candidates can give us, the victims of the conflict, assurances about justice. If not, why should we choose them?" said protester Fatmawati, 34.
Fatmawati said her husband had been missing since 2003, when a military emergency was declared in the province. Fatmawati and her husband then lived in Cot Krueng, Aceh Besar regency, which was known as the base of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
"I can only cry whenever my child asks where his father's grave is," Fatmawati said.
There has been no indication yet as to when cases like these will be resolved. That's why Fatmawati said she was very disappointed that candidates are not planning to tackle the human rights violations.
Abdul Hamid, 39, a resident of Seulimum, Aceh Besar, agreed, saying he had decided not to exercise his right to vote.
"It won't be any use since we will not be able to get justice," Hamid said.
The victims of the conflict invited the candidates to sign a pledge to resolve the human rights cases, but none of the candidates came.
"They prefer to make promises (on other issues) rather than solve this important problem," Hamid said.
The rally took place in an orderly fashion under the watchful eye of security officers.
Rahmat, from the group Student Solidarity for the People, said Aceh had experienced a kind of amnesia since the signing of a peace agreement between GAM and the Indonesian government a year ago.
"No one talks about human rights any longer, as if human rights violations had never happened in Aceh," Rahmat said.
According to data from the Aceh chapter of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), there were as many as 15,000 cases of human rights violations in Aceh. "Only about 10 percent of them have been settled, especially those carried out by the military," said Henda of Kontras' Aceh chapter.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp
Dozens of people claiming to be victims of the conflict in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam rallied in front of the Independent Commission for Elections in Banda Aceh on Thursday, threatening to boycott the upcoming regional elections.
The protesters complained none of the candidates had promised to address the gross human rights violations that occurred during Aceh's long and bloody separatist conflict.
The vote scheduled on Dec. 11 will choose a new governor and 21 regents for the province.
"I hope the gubernatorial candidates can give us, the victims of the conflict, assurances about justice. If not, why should we choose them?" said protester Fatmawati, 34.
Fatmawati said her husband had been missing since 2003, when a military emergency was declared in the province. Fatmawati and her husband then lived in Cot Krueng, Aceh Besar regency, which was known as the base of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
"I can only cry whenever my child asks where his father's grave is," Fatmawati said.
There has been no indication yet as to when cases like these will be resolved. That's why Fatmawati said she was very disappointed that candidates are not planning to tackle the human rights violations.
Abdul Hamid, 39, a resident of Seulimum, Aceh Besar, agreed, saying he had decided not to exercise his right to vote.
"It won't be any use since we will not be able to get justice," Hamid said.
The victims of the conflict invited the candidates to sign a pledge to resolve the human rights cases, but none of the candidates came.
"They prefer to make promises (on other issues) rather than solve this important problem," Hamid said.
The rally took place in an orderly fashion under the watchful eye of security officers.
Rahmat, from the group Student Solidarity for the People, said Aceh had experienced a kind of amnesia since the signing of a peace agreement between GAM and the Indonesian government a year ago.
"No one talks about human rights any longer, as if human rights violations had never happened in Aceh," Rahmat said.
According to data from the Aceh chapter of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), there were as many as 15,000 cases of human rights violations in Aceh. "Only about 10 percent of them have been settled, especially those carried out by the military," said Henda of Kontras' Aceh chapter.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Aceh prepares to vote
29/11/2006
Campaigning has begun for long-awaited elections in the Indonesian province of Aceh, due to take place on December 11. For the first time, Acehnese will directly elect their own governor and vice-governor. In another first for Indonesia, independent candidates, without backing from political parties, will be allowed to run for election.
Dr Damien Kingsbury, an Indonesia specialist at Deakin University in Australia, discusses what the vote means to the people of Aceh.
The elections have the capacity to be very important, because for the first time it gives the Acehnese people the opportunity to decide on a local government which will reflect local interests and be based around local candidates. The issues are conventional in a sense. They are around things like education, health care, how the provincial government allocates the funds that it's been promised under the peace agreement.
There is, of course, the controversial matter of Sharia, or Islamic law, in Aceh. However, I don't think that's going to be a major issue in the campaign, simply because it already exists and most candidates think it's too sensitive at this stage to actually tackle head on.
Is that because the implementation of Sharia is a popular move among Acehnese?
It's not so much that it's popular. It's popular within some segments of the community, particularly amongst the Ulama, the Islamic priests. But the problem is if there are moves against it now, there's no capacity to actually overturn it. So it doesn't have any upside if you like for the candidates. But the downside is that they will get the hostility of the Ulama, and the Ulama are very influential amongst sections of Acehnese society. So it would be a negative political move.
And of course Sharia, as I understand it was introduced by Jakarta, by the Indonesian government. So even if they wanted to remove it, they'd have to go through Jakarta first?
Well, it is able to be removed by the local legislature, but not by a provincial governor decree. So what they really do have to do is now wait until the provincial elections for the legislature come around in a couple of years time and then look at that issue after then. So I think that it may be considered in the future, but the governor doesn't really have the capacity to remove the legislation, so it's not a winning issue to go into the campaign on.
From your observation, has there been much enthusiasm on the ground and support by the Acehnese for this election?
Yes, I understand that there is a lot of interest and a lot of enthusiasm for the election process. The interesting thing is that the campaign has started off in a fairly quiet manner. There is none of the usual banners and joy rides that you associate with Indonesian elections.
I think in part that reflects the fact there's just not much money around for that sort of campaigning, but the responses that I've been able to pick up so far have indicated there is a lot of interest in the elections and that the local people are quite enthusiastic having the opportunity to at least have some say over their own future.
I understand that this is also the first time that independents get to take part. Were you surprised that among the candidates were a former military commander and also candidates from the once all power Golkar Party?
No I'm not surprised that they would stand. There are a number of interests that play out in Aceh and of course if you can get the governorship then you can more firmly entrench your interests, and the military has a very longstanding interest in Aceh through illegal forces of income, political domination and so on.
But are the Acehnese likely to vote for them?
I would doubt it very much. I think Golkar does have some support, but I think the United Development Party, which is also Jakarta-based, has some support, particularly because it has the backing of the former political leader of the Free Aceh Movement, and that's a rather sad move on behalf of the Free Aceh Movement - that its political leader should side with the Jakarta-based party.
But that means that that party will have some significant support, [which] would I think go to the other Free Aceh Movement candidate. He won the Yusuf and I think he has significant support in the villages. The visions that are really opening up now are not in Acehnese political society, more generally, but within what used to be the Free Aceh Movement, which is now split down the middle. There certainly is some tension within what was the Free Aceh Movement over this electoral process, but I don't see it being translated into violence or aggression.
Dr Damien Kingsbury, Indonesia specialist
Dr Damien Kingsbury is an Indonesia specialist at Deakin University in Australia, and a one-time adviser to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) negotiating team.
This Viewpoint is taken from an interview conducted with Sen Lam, which was first broadcast on Radio Australia's Asia Pacific program on 27 November, 2006.
http://abc.net.au/ra/news/viewpoints/s1800365_to.htm
Campaigning has begun for long-awaited elections in the Indonesian province of Aceh, due to take place on December 11. For the first time, Acehnese will directly elect their own governor and vice-governor. In another first for Indonesia, independent candidates, without backing from political parties, will be allowed to run for election.
Dr Damien Kingsbury, an Indonesia specialist at Deakin University in Australia, discusses what the vote means to the people of Aceh.
The elections have the capacity to be very important, because for the first time it gives the Acehnese people the opportunity to decide on a local government which will reflect local interests and be based around local candidates. The issues are conventional in a sense. They are around things like education, health care, how the provincial government allocates the funds that it's been promised under the peace agreement.
There is, of course, the controversial matter of Sharia, or Islamic law, in Aceh. However, I don't think that's going to be a major issue in the campaign, simply because it already exists and most candidates think it's too sensitive at this stage to actually tackle head on.
Is that because the implementation of Sharia is a popular move among Acehnese?
It's not so much that it's popular. It's popular within some segments of the community, particularly amongst the Ulama, the Islamic priests. But the problem is if there are moves against it now, there's no capacity to actually overturn it. So it doesn't have any upside if you like for the candidates. But the downside is that they will get the hostility of the Ulama, and the Ulama are very influential amongst sections of Acehnese society. So it would be a negative political move.
And of course Sharia, as I understand it was introduced by Jakarta, by the Indonesian government. So even if they wanted to remove it, they'd have to go through Jakarta first?
Well, it is able to be removed by the local legislature, but not by a provincial governor decree. So what they really do have to do is now wait until the provincial elections for the legislature come around in a couple of years time and then look at that issue after then. So I think that it may be considered in the future, but the governor doesn't really have the capacity to remove the legislation, so it's not a winning issue to go into the campaign on.
From your observation, has there been much enthusiasm on the ground and support by the Acehnese for this election?
Yes, I understand that there is a lot of interest and a lot of enthusiasm for the election process. The interesting thing is that the campaign has started off in a fairly quiet manner. There is none of the usual banners and joy rides that you associate with Indonesian elections.
I think in part that reflects the fact there's just not much money around for that sort of campaigning, but the responses that I've been able to pick up so far have indicated there is a lot of interest in the elections and that the local people are quite enthusiastic having the opportunity to at least have some say over their own future.
I understand that this is also the first time that independents get to take part. Were you surprised that among the candidates were a former military commander and also candidates from the once all power Golkar Party?
No I'm not surprised that they would stand. There are a number of interests that play out in Aceh and of course if you can get the governorship then you can more firmly entrench your interests, and the military has a very longstanding interest in Aceh through illegal forces of income, political domination and so on.
But are the Acehnese likely to vote for them?
I would doubt it very much. I think Golkar does have some support, but I think the United Development Party, which is also Jakarta-based, has some support, particularly because it has the backing of the former political leader of the Free Aceh Movement, and that's a rather sad move on behalf of the Free Aceh Movement - that its political leader should side with the Jakarta-based party.
But that means that that party will have some significant support, [which] would I think go to the other Free Aceh Movement candidate. He won the Yusuf and I think he has significant support in the villages. The visions that are really opening up now are not in Acehnese political society, more generally, but within what used to be the Free Aceh Movement, which is now split down the middle. There certainly is some tension within what was the Free Aceh Movement over this electoral process, but I don't see it being translated into violence or aggression.
Dr Damien Kingsbury, Indonesia specialist
Dr Damien Kingsbury is an Indonesia specialist at Deakin University in Australia, and a one-time adviser to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) negotiating team.
This Viewpoint is taken from an interview conducted with Sen Lam, which was first broadcast on Radio Australia's Asia Pacific program on 27 November, 2006.
http://abc.net.au/ra/news/viewpoints/s1800365_to.htm
Monday, November 27, 2006
After the deluge, aid agencies find themselves in unfamiliar terrain
By Shawn Donnan,By Shawn Donnan and Taufan Hidayat
Published: October 2 2006 02:00 | Last updated: October 2 2006 02:00
In a place where more than 160,000 people died and whole bustling villages were reduced to rubble within minutes, Heni Flora is one of the lucky ones. The 26-year-old housewife, her mechanic husband and their three children lost only the new home into which they had sunk all their savings when the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami ravaged through Indonesia's Aceh province.
Yet 21 months after the tsunami, to ask her how she feels is to encounter a whirlwind of dissatisfaction, most of it focused on the dismal state of the house built for her family as part of a project overseen by Oxfam, the British charity.
The roof leaks. So do the gappy water-stained wood-plank walls. In a place where tropical rains pour down for months at a time each year, that means the house "is very uncomfortable", she says. "How can it be comfortable if there's rain and wind coming in all the time? They [Oxfam] should demolish it."
The international response to the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami has, with at least $13.5bn (£7.2bn, €10.6bn) raised, been held up as a heart-warming example of how generous the world can be. International aid agencies have made ambitious promises to "build back better" in affected areas from Aceh to Sri Lanka. For anyone who saw the disaster's immediate and grisly aftermath in somewhere such as the Indonesian province, it is hard not to be impressed with what has been accomplished in the past 21 months.
The equally valid reality, however, is that rebuilding has been fraught with difficulties that ought to be a wake-up call for the aid community. For the time being, it is people such as Ms Flora and her bemused neighbours on the outskirts of the Acehnese capital, Banda Aceh, who are shouldering the burden of the system's shortcomings.
"If the walls are a problem now, what will happen in the future?" asks Mutaqin, a 35-year-old widow who lives in an Oxfam house across the road with her three children and a clutch of orphaned nieces and nephews.
Ms Flora and her neighbours are far from the only ones pointing to problems. In a July report, consultants working for the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition, a grouping of 40 charities and development agencies established to monitor the tsunami response, identified a "growing frustration with the speed, direction and ownership" of the reconstruction process from Aceh to Sri Lanka.
Spread across the 175-page report was a list of shortcomings ranging from co-ordination issues that, in at least one case, saw an aid agency erect houses where another had agreed to build a road, to a plethora of broken promises by international aid groups.
In his foreword to the report, former US President Bill Clinton, the UN's special tsunami envoy, described the findings as "uncomfortable reading" for an aid community more used to patting itself on the back than absorbing criticisms.
The report's authors wrote pointedly that the "generous funding" available for the tsunami response meant the "humanitarian industry" was "deprived of its customary excuse for built-in systemic shortcomings". Moreover, many of the systemic issues listed had been identified as much as a decade ago, in the aftermath of the international response to the slaughter in Rwanda.
"We can and must do better in responding to ongoing and future disaster relief and recovery challenges," Mr Clinton wrote.
In the case of Heni Flora's leaky house and those of her neighbours, Oxfam says it is reviewing what to do. But Melinda Young, the senior staff member in charge of Oxfam's Banda Aceh office during an August visit by the Financial Times, said the charity was unlikely to go back and do any repairs. "If you go back and repair that house then another person doesn't get a house," she said.
Oxfam has pledged to build more than 1,600 houses in Aceh and by last month it had completed nearly half of them - although Ms Young said building homes "is an area that we want to phase out of".
The agency is far from being the only one to have encountered problems working in Aceh. After spending more than $2m and finishing 571 homes using an Indonesian contractor, Save The Children this year fired three in-house building inspectors when it discovered big problems that meant 371 of the houses would have to be torn down.
When the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies unveiled a $100m plan last year to build 20,000 temporary homes, it struggled for months to find the sustainably-logged wood it needed. By August only about 13,000 had been erected and it seemed unclear whether the rest would ever be built - although Red Cross officials insisted they would.
The issue in Aceh is at least partly that the funds generated by the huge public response to the disaster prompted many agencies to embark on projects they had little expertise in, says Kevin Duignan, the New Zealand builder in charge of the IFRC project.
"No one had ever heard of the Red Cross construction company before. Or of the Concern construction company," he says. "Those are aid agencies!"
But even groups with significant experience in rebuilding in disaster zones say they have faced difficulties with corruption and land ownership, as well as price inflation for building materials.
The international community does not bear the responsibility for all the problems. In a September report, the World Bank warned that local governments were spending too much new-found wealth on flashy new offices and not enough on infrastructure.
The news is also not all bad. The Indonesian government's Aceh and Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency, for example, has begun working with state-owned banks that buy up building materials in bulk before "loaning" them to contractors, resulting in less price inflation for items such as bricks and timber.
But the tsunami reconstruction is clearly replete with frustrations. For German contractor GITEC, the biggest has been a shortage of qualified labour. In the coastal village of Lamteungoh, where just 161 people out of a population of more than 1,300 before the tsunami survived, it has caused delays in the construction of houses that should have been finished last month in time for the start of Ramadan.
"We don't really care how much is spent on the houses," says Sanusi, the local village head. "What we really need is the houses to be finished for us."
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/90bb1be0-51b1-11db-b736-0000779e2340.html
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Poll Campaign Kicks Off In Indonesia's Aceh Province
(RTTNews) - Campaigning kicked for the December 11 poll on Friday in Indonesia's once rebellious Aceh province, with one candidate vowing to speed up rehabilitation of victims of the December 2004 tsunami. Next month's landmark elections, the first ever direct vote for top executive posts in the province is expected to prove to be another milestone towards ending a conflict that has killed 15,000 people since the Free Aceh Movement or GAM launched a struggle for an independent state on Sumatra island's northern tip in 1976.
GAM and the Indonesian government signed a truce in August 2005 under Finnish mediation, partly spurred by the Indian Ocean tsunami that left around 170,000 Acehnese dead or missing. The pact paved the way for former separatists' involvement in Aceh politics after they agreed to end their rebellion.
Previous polls in Aceh, including the 2004 Indonesian presidential and legislative elections were conducted under tight security and open campaigning was forbidden in many areas due to the insurgency.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20061126%5cACQRTT200611260011RTTRADERUSEQUITY_0001.htm&
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