[Kabar-indonesia] ST: Meulaboh Struggles to Get Back on Its Feet

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

The Straits Times (Singapore)
Tuesday, August 1, 2006

Meulaboh struggles to get back on its feet

Ong Soh Chin

MEULABOH, ACEH - AS I train my camera at a row of dilapidated houses,
an aid worker says: 'Don't take pictures of the villagers.'

They are angry because so many people have come to take pictures of
them and nobody seems to have really done anything, she adds.

We are in Meulaboh, an isolated coastal town in West Sumatra which was
closest to the epicentre of the earthquake of Dec 26, 2004. The
resulting tsunami, which devastated communities across the Indian
Ocean from South-east Asia to East Africa, flattened the coastline and
much of Meulaboh itself.

It is estimated that a quarter of the 40,000 people in the town perished.

At first glance, it is puzzling why the townsfolk would feel such
frustration. After all, there is a marked improvement in the town -
colourful houses stand where once there was nothing, shops are open
for business and children are going to school.

But look a little closer and a different picture emerges. Sanitation
is still a problem, and the people here still rely mainly on donated
bottled water for drinking.

The upheaval of the tsunami, which covered the town with sand, mud and
general debris, has made large tracts of land untenable for farming.
The sunken coastline has also made Meulaboh prone to flooding, and
pools of brown, stagnant water can be found everywhere.

Mr Edward Langton, 48, the Meulaboh liaison official for Singapore
help agency Mercy Relief, estimates that out of the 200 aid
organisations which descended on the town after the tsunami, about 50
are left, mostly local or national bodies.

Singapore, which was instrumental in early relief efforts, has
remained steadfast in its support. In April, the Singapore Government
donated a pier to replace the wrecked jetty and is helping to build a
road connecting Meulaboh to the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

Aid groups like Mercy Relief and the Singapore Red Cross are also
involved in rehabilitation efforts, as are private companies like
Neptune Orient Lines (NOL).

Last week, as part of its Tsunami Relief Community Relations
initiative, NOL donated a US$150,000 (S$236,000) fishing vessel to the
Koperasi Bina Nelayan, a fishermen's group.

The vessel can take four crew members and six fishermen and carry four
tonnes of cargo. This means that, unlike the fishermen's traditional
small boats, it can venture further out to sea and stay out for longer
- a vital requirement, as most of the marine life along the immediate
coast no longer exists.

NOL deputy vice-president Cedric Foo said at the launch: 'We felt the
best way we could contribute to this place, a coastal port, is to
provide people with the tools to re-establish their livelihoods.'

NOL spent a further US$15,000 on a two-week training stint in Surabaya
for four crew members on how to maintain and operate the modern
vessel. The training programme also included a session in traditional
boat building using modern technology, for two trainees. The idea is
to teach them so they can go back to teach others.

It has also contributed four refurbished containers, two of which are
being used as kindergartens and two as offices for Geubri Na, a
women's self-help group spearheaded by the Medan-based
non-governmental organisation, Kelompok Peruantan dan Pendidikan
Lingkungan (KPPL).

Formed in 2002 as an environmental organisation by a small group of
20-somethings, KPPL had a baptism of fire when the tsunami hit. Ms
Melfa Samosir, one of its founding members, moved to Meulaboh a month
after the disaster and has not left.

Together with three colleagues, she has been teaching 17 groups of
farmers in eight villages in the Nagan Raya area how to practise
organic farming. The farmers are required to put some of the earnings
from their harvest into a fund to ensure the project's continuity.

Most of the farmers are women, and while they may have been sceptical
about organic farming in the beginning, positive results have won them
over. Today, about 80 per cent of the farmers practise organic farming
and pest control - growing lemongrass as a natural repellent, for
example.

'We also help them to find trading partners so they can sell what they
grow,' said Ms Melfa, a slight woman, who is recovering from a bout of
typhoid. She does not know how long she will stay in Meulaboh, but is
determined to stick around for as long as she is needed.

Mercy Relief's Mr Langton has nothing but praise for KPPL, which has
only 20 members doing work in various parts of Aceh.

'Imagine,' he said, 'in a society where seniority is respected, these
kids from outside Aceh managed to persuade the headman of the village
to get his people out in the fields and following their lead. It's
amazing.'

The Irishman misses his wife Jamiah and their three children back in
Singapore. He has been in Meulaboh since January last year and makes
monthly visits home.

But he also has a brood of 'adopted' children in Meulaboh - the 283
kids at Babussalam, a school-cum-orphanage which also takes in
destitute children.

Babussalam, divided into two sections - one for boys and the other for
girls - went undetected for months after the tsunami hit.

Mr Frederick Foo, 48, Mercy Relief's executive director, says: 'When
we found them, the children were fending for themselves and living in
derelict chicken coops which were filthy and unfit for dwelling.'

Today, with funds from the Jurong Country Club and the Chicago
Graduate Business School, the girls' wing is being rebuilt. But more
funds are needed - Mr Langton's estimate is about $700,000 - to finish
the work, as well as to build up the boys' wing.

In a town where the construction trade is booming, Mercy Relief has
bought two machines which the boys use to manufacture bricks for
Babussalam's reconstruction, as well as for sale.

As with the Nagan Raya farmers, the idea is to create livelihood
programmes, so that the people can continue to earn a living long
after the aid workers have left.

But while the initial phase of disaster relief is over, the
rehabilitation is only just beginning, and it is being carried out by
far fewer organisations than in the initial weeks after the disaster.

Says Mr Langton: 'It's now that people need help the most. We've still
got people living here in conditions in which, in Singapore, if you
were to put a cat or a dog in them, you would be arrested.'

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