The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
Muhammad could not hide his disappointment with the government and the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) and foreign nongovernmental organizations as he detailed his almost three-year stay at a temporary shelter.
The 2004 tsunami killed his two young children and flattened his rented home.
"The BRR offered to resettle us in a housing area far from the sea but we decided not accept it -- we could do nothing there. Our daily life is on the sea," he said.
The 29-year-old fisherman and 30 others are still occupying a run-down barracks in Tongkol Village, Ulee Lhe, the worst hit coastal district in the capital.
The community has asked the BRR several times to build new houses in the subdistrict. But new planning laws for the province in the wake of the tsunami ban housing on the coast for safety reasons.
Yusri, who lives in barracks in Lampeunerut subdistrict, said he and many other fishermen had been told their homes were under construction, but did not know when they would be able to move in.
Most of those living in the barracks rented houses that were damaged by the tsunami and following earthquake. They said they could no longer afford rental costs in the area, which have reached a few million rupiah a year.
So far, the BRR with its partner NGOs has constructed a total of 102,063 simple homes for victims in both provinces.
Unfortunately, a few homes turned out to be below the accepted standard. The controversy continues to fuel the BRR's critics, while its partners have said it has been hard to get good building materials.
Residents have complained of a lack of access to clean water and health facilities, blaming poor coordination between the BRR, NGOs and local authorities.
Muzakir, who has worked with Habitat for Humanity in building 78 houses for victims in Jangka Buya, Pidie, said the water purification facilities in the village did not work properly because the local office of state-owned power company PT PLN had not set up power supply for them.
He said this was because Habitat had refused to pay a requested fee to PLN and added that many families in the area had been drinking rain water due to the clean water shortage.
The new homes were much better than the damaged ones, he said.
Habitat for Humanity has built almost 100 simple houses in Jangka Buya, Pidie, and hundreds of others in Lamno, Aceh Jaya and Meulaboh, West Aceh.
Urai Rogers, country manager of PT Dow Chemicals in Merak, Banten, said she was pleased that victims were able to start moving into their new homes.
She said she appreciated the work of victims in Lamno, Aceh Jaya, who had cooperated with NGOs and the local administration to help conduct the rehabilitation and reconstruction work.
She also said the BRR and local authorities should coordinate better for the remainder of the mission to help heal the society, and restart the economy.
