Nias Online (English)

Wednesday, December 21, 2005Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Almost a year after the tsunami, survivors on Nias in North Sumatra have accused both the central and local administrations of not moving fast enough in rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts on the island.

The view was expressed in the latest study on tsunami and earthquake survivor management conducted by the Institute for Policy Study and Advocation in Medan.

The institute's executive director, Efendi Panjaitan, said that nearly a year after the tsunami and nine months after the massive earthquake that rocked the island in March, survivors had not been informed of how long it would be before their houses were rebuilt.

He said the survivors on the island were prepared to rebuild at their own expense once the government gave them the go-ahead.

"Our field study in Nias shows that survivors face problems in rebuilding their houses due to the absence of spatial planning, making them remain in makeshift shelters," Efendi told The Jakarta Post, adding that the construction of at least 300 houses was indefinite as the government had yet to issue building permits.

The tsunami, which devastated Aceh and part of North Sumatra in December last year, and the quake which struck the island on March 28 this year, claimed the lives of 685 people in Nias regency and 165 in South Nias regency.

According to the institute's findings, 28,024 houses were destroyed by the earthquake and the tsunami in Nias, and another 17,326 houses in South Nias.

A tsunami and earthquake survivor in South Nias, Hurezame Sarumaha, said many people, particularly those from South Nias, had been forced to seek a living in other areas, such as Riau, West Sumatra and the North Sumatra capital of Medan.

Hurezame, a community leader and former Nias councillor, said the government needed to act quickly before survivors left Nias to start afresh, so they no longer had to live in temporary housing.

Most of the survivors, he said, were aware that aid from relief organizations had been sent to Nias, but had not been distributed.

"We are not only the victims of the disasters now, but have been deprived of relief aid," Hurezame said.

Head of the Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency William Sahbandar said his office understood residents' disappointment.

However, he denied that the delays were due to the bureaucracy, saying the problems were mostly technical ones.

"The efforts in the rehabilitation and reconstruction process on Nias are different from those in Aceh. On Nias, the most crucial problem faced by us is transportation. However, we should be optimistic that all things can be accomplished," said William.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Almost a year after two devastating natural disasters struck Nias Island in North Sumatra, some 4,000 families are still living in makeshift shelters and thousands of students are studying under tents, desperately waiting for aid from donor countries.

Most refugees have lost relatives, their houses and their jobs because of the double disasters, and are reliant on help from volunteers and activists from foreign non-governmental organizations and the Nias-Aceh Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR) that have been supplying their daily needs.

Thousands of students have been attending classes in temporary camps because school buildings have yet to be rebuilt.

"It's ironic that the situation on the island is still far from normal 10 months after the earthquake. Don't compare it with the relatively better conditions in Aceh," William Sabandar, BRR representative in Gunung Sitoli, Nias, told The Jakarta Post after a BRR Nias Island stakeholder meeting here on Tuesday.

Nias was as devastated as Aceh following the Dec. 26 tsunami. But the island was further devastated when another major earthquake shook it three months later.

According to Sabandar, only 200 new houses have been built out of the 13,000 the BRR plans to construct. About 50,000 houses also need to be renovated.

"By April 2006, a total of 1,000 houses will be built and the construction of the remaining 12,000 will follow in accordance with the pledges of donor countries. We are in need of Rp 1.1 trillion (US$110 million) for the house construction and rehabilitation project," he said.

UNICEF has pledged to help finance the construction of 160 new school buildings and foreign NGOs have promised financial aid to put up 100 school buildings, while BRR has committed to constructing 60 school buildings.

A total of 770 school buildings and hundreds of churches and mosques were severely damaged during the disasters.

Subandar said that besides financial shortages, difficult access due to the devastated infrastructure had hampered BRR in supplying construction materials to the worst-hit areas.

"Some 19 projects worth Rp 431 billion to rehabilitate damaged roads, bridges, hospitals, public health centers and schools are still underway. We hope the projects can be completed within two years," he said.

Separately, BRR chief Kuntoro Mangkusubroto confirmed that the reconstruction and rehabilitation work in Nias was far slower than in Aceh because of a shortage of finance.

While there has been criticism, progress has been achieved in Aceh because 96 percent of donor countries' donations had been used in the province, but Nias had remained untouched, he said.

"After the tsunami devastated Aceh and Nias last year, donor countries and the government committed to providing only 4 percent of their total donations to Nias. No new commitment was given following the March 18 earthquake that left 40,000 people homeless and almost 1,000 school buildings, churches and mosques damaged," he said.

The government and donor countries have so far committed themselves to providing $2.1 billion of the $7.1 billion in total donations to Nias within four years.

Following the devastating quake, Kuntoro said, BRR has asked donor countries and the government to allocate between 12 percent and 17 percent of total donations for Nias because of the extensive damage and the vast amount of reconstruction needed.

Attending Tuesday's meeting were representatives of the World Bank, UN, foreign NGOs, foreign ambassadors and North Sumatra deputy governor Rudolf Pardede.

"Donor countries and BRR agree to prioritize road and bridge reconstruction projects to give easier access to the supply of construction materials to worst-hit remote areas on the island," Kuntoro said.

Besides the World Bank, UN and foreign NGOs, Germany, Sweden and China have expressed their commitment to providing financial aid to Nias.

Another meeting of stakeholders is scheduled for Jan. 17 in Gunung Sitoli.