wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 704-Indonesia's tsunami recovery comes with

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

 Indonesia's tsunami recovery comes with complications

Dec. 19, 2005	 News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*
New York {704}

NOTE: Photographs and related stories are available at
http://umns.umc.org <http://umns.umc.org/> .

By Linda Bloom

A year after the tsunami wiped out whole parts of the Aceh Province of
Indonesia, the United Methodist Committee on Relief is helping people
rebuild their homes, their communities and their livelihoods.

But the relief and recovery work has been complicated, according to the
Rev. Paul Dirdak, UMCOR's chief executive.

"The disaster destroyed a very thin strip of property in a rural
province where people lived on the beach but a very wide path in one
coastal city," he said.

In the rural area, it has not been so hard to determine property
ownership for rebuilding purposes, Dirdak explained. But in a city such
as Banda Aceh, where "such a wide range of pieces of property were
destroyed," along with property records, the task has been formidable.

"All the NGOS (nongovernmental organizations) are having a very hard
time proving their beneficiaries' right to build a house in a particular
place," he said.

Other complicating factors include a strain on resources for building
materials, such as lumber; the large number of outside organizations
helping with recovery, slowing down the permit process; and the ongoing
political conflict, which has been assisted by a peace accord in August.

In a Dec. 14 press release, Oxfam International said that providing
shelter for those displaced by the tsunami has been its biggest
challenge. Oxfam received $278 million in donations for its tsunami aid
effort and will have spent around $127 million by the end of the year.

Oxfam's progress in Aceh, for example, has been hampered by the fact
that some land is still under water; by the government's slowness to
allocate land for rebuilding and to clarify coastal buffer zones; and by
limited access to devastated areas due to lack of infrastructure. The
uneven progress means some people already live in permanent houses while
others remain in tents.

On the northeastern coast of Sumatra, 200 kilometers south of Banda
Aceh, UMCOR Indonesia has a program called Integrated Rehabilitation for
Tsunami Affected Communities. The project location is the Bireuen
district, and UMCOR is coordinating its work with the local government
and other NGOs in the area.

The goal of the project, currently estimated at a cost of just more than
$5 million, "is to revitalize tsunami-affected communities in Bireuen by
empowering community members to re-establish their homes and
livelihoods," according to UMCOR.

Objectives include providing long-term shelter solutions for up to 521
families in Bireuen through reconstruction of destroyed homes or repair
of damaged homes; facilitating access to basic public services through
four small-scale infrastructure projects; and helping generate a
sustainable income for a minimum of 250 entrepreneurs in Bireuen who
lost their livelihoods because of the tsunami.

Building homes

One livelihood project consists of a two-week training of up to 100
workers in the basics of construction. The training includes the
construction of public toilets in villages where UMCOR Indonesia is
working. After the training, the workers receive toolkits and will be
placed with construction companies to further enhance their skills.

In total, 432 shelters or homes will be built and 89 homes repaired in
the villages of Kuala Raja, Cot Batee, Matang Teungoh, Pineung Siri Bee
and Tanjong Baro. Ten demonstration homes were finished this fall,
providing models to help the communities select what best fits their
needs.

One of those demonstration homes is occupied by Yusuf, a 55-year-old
fisherman, his wife, and their three children, ages 22, 19 and 12. After
losing their home in the tsunami, the family had been living in
government-constructed barracks.

According to the November progress report from UMCOR-Indonesia, the
construction process has been slowed as they wait for government
officials responsible for land registration to sign off on letters that
would certify beneficiary families as legal owners of the plot of land
where the house would be built.

However, the report said, 50 houses are under construction and work is
expected to begin in December on another 372 structures.

Optimism in Banda Aceh

For Banda Aceh itself, UMCOR is developing a number of projects for
approval by its directors at their April board meeting, according to
Dirdak.

Architects also are drawing up plans for a new church building and
attached apartment block for the Methodist Church in Banda Aceh.
Although no cost estimate has been presented yet, Dirdak said, the
United Methodist Church's Indiana Area already has raised money for
construction.

The Rev. Henry Leono, who grew up in Banda Aceh but now serves as pastor
of a New Jersey church, reported to United Methodist News Service that
the school run by the Banda Aceh Methodist Church has been renovated and
classes are in session.

Attendance at the church's Sunday worship has doubled to about 200, and
nightly prayer meetings, begun six or seven months ago, are continuing,
said Leono, who spoke Dec. 13 with his sister Ida, in Banda Aceh.

His sister's jewelry store is doing well, he said, because jewelry is
considered to be a good investment by Indonesians. But other businesses
are doing well too, especially construction-related enterprises and
restaurants.

"My sense from her is that people are more optimistic about their
future," he said.
The Rev. David Wu, an executive with the Board of Global Ministries and
native of Indonesia, said many people who had been displaced by the
tsunami are returning to Banda Aceh "because there's so much work to do
there."

He believes the people of Sumatra "are quite resilient. They just move
on."

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org <http://umns.umc.org/>

----------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this group, go to UMCom.org, log in to your account,
click on the My Resources link and select the Leave option on the list(s)
from which you wish to unsubscribe. If you have problems or questions, please
write to websupport@umcom.org.

Powered by United Methodist Communications http://www.UMCom.org