59077 ROUTES TO RECOVERY IN POST-TSUNAMI ACEH & NIAS INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS Table of Contents Preface 3 Abbreviations & Acronyms 6 Routes to Recovery 7 Highway of Hope 11 Water from the Krueng Aceh 19 The Way to Calang 25 Bounty from the Padang Lageun Sea Barrier 31 The Two in One Road 35 The Simpang Mamplam and The Keude Samalanga Roads 41 Paving the Way for Profit 47 The Port at Gunung Sitoli 55 ROUTES TO RECOVERY IN POST-TSUNAMI ACEH & NIAS INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS World Bank Office Jakarta MDF Office Jakarta Indonesia Stock Exchange Building Tower II/12th Floor Indonesia Stock Exchange Building Tower I/9th Floor Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 52-53 Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 52-53 Jakarta 12910 Indonesia Jakarta 12910 Indonesia Tel: +62(21)5299-3000 Tel: +62(21)5229-3000 Fax: +62(21)5299-3111 Fax: +62(21)5229-3111 www.worldbank.org www.multidonorfund.org Printed in: 2010 This publication is the product of the World Bank and the Multi Donor Fund for Aceh and Nias Acknowledgement This booklet was prepared by the project task team which is composed of Suhail Jme'an, Khairy Al-Jamal, Agus Sjamsudin, Kris Hedipriyantoko, Lixin Gu, Andre Bald. The team is supported by: Rebekka Hutabarat, Ira Marina External Relations: Randy Salim, Puni Ayu Anjungsari Indrayanto Interviewer and Contributing Writer: Yuli Ismartono Design & Layout: Indra Irnawan & Aisuke Translation: Marcellinus Jerry Winata & Hendrayatna Tafianoto Photos: Edwin Karambe (GHD) Financed by: Multi Donor Trust Fund 2 Preface The recovery from the catastrophic tsunami of December 2004 and the subsequent earthquake in March 2005 posed a huge challenge for the Government of Indonesia (GOI). The province of Aceh and the island of Nias were the hardest hit. The loss of life, human displacement, economic disruption and devastation were enormous. The scale of the combined disasters proved overwhelming and required global support. This wave of destruction created a bigger wave of solidarity from Indonesia's friends in the international community. The Multi Donor Fund (MDF) for Aceh and Nias was established on May 10, 2005, by the GOI and the international community to assist in the coordination of funds made available for post-disaster reconstruction. The MDF pooled approximately $678 million of pledges from 15 bilateral and multi-lateral donors (European Commission, Netherlands, United Kingdom, World Bank, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Canada, Asian Development Bank, United States of America, Germany, Belgium, Finland, New Zealand and Ireland) and has established itself as a trusted partner for the GOI in the recovery process. R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 3 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS In response, GOI created a dedicated reconstruction and rehabilitation agency (Badan Rehabilitasi dan Rekonstruksi (BRR) to provide leadership and management across all aspects of the recovery. BRR's priorities were to provide housing and rebuild essential infrastructure. The World Bank, as a partner agency to the MDF and the GOI played a vital role in the post-disaster recovery programs. One such program was the Infrastructure Reconstruction Financing Facility (IRFF) which focused on the reconstruction of key water supply and drainage systems, roads, water resources and ports infrastructure in Aceh and Nias. Although the implementation of the IRFF faced many challenges and delays because of weak local capacities and difficult conditions, the project is near completion with a significant part of its outcomes successfully completed. This report presents a sketch of the local people's candid responses towards selected projects under IRFF and the impact they have had on their everyday lives. It is evident that the IRFF has had significant positive impacts. We celebrate this achievement and are proud of the collaboration, dedication and hard work of so many who helped build back a better future for Aceh and Nias. We also thank our friends in the international community for their continued support. Irwandi Yusuf Agoes Widjanarko Stefan G. Koeberle Governor of Aceh Secretary General Country Director Ministry of Public Works World Bank 4 R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 5 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS Abbreviations & Acronyms IREP Infrastructure Reconstruction Enabling Program IRFF Infrastructure Reconstruction Financing Facility MDF Multi Donor Fund for Aceh and Nias NGO Non-Governmental Organization USAID US Agency for International Development 6 Routes to Recovery Infrastructure Reconstruction in Aceh and Nias through the IRFF Projects The earthquake and tsunami of severe damage and loss of life on Nias), an autonomous body created December 2004 left behind a trail the island of Nias, in neighboring by the GoI to lead the recovery of death and devastation in the North Sumatra province, and parts and reconstruction efforts. The coastal areas around the Indian of Aceh. The reconstruction of BRR's mandate came to an end Ocean, including in Indonesia, damaged infrastructure was thus a in April 2009. The national Thailand, Sri Lanka and India's top priority for the Government of planning agency, Bappenas, now Tamil Nadu province. More than Indonesia in the recovery efforts has responsibility for coordination 300,000 people perished in the that followed these devastating of the remaining reconstruction aftermath, 230,000 of them in natural disasters. efforts following the closure of Indonesia's Aceh province in BRR. the northern part of the island of The magnitude of the destruction Sumatra. The eight-minute tremors in Aceh and Nias elicited world The Multi-Donor Trust Fund for registering 9.3 on the Richter scale sympathy and mobilized nearly Aceh and Nias (MDF) was set ­ the second largest earthquake US$7 billion to fund reconstruction up to support the GoI's efforts to ever recorded ­ and the ensuing and rehabilitation programs. coordinate and mobilize donor 30-meter high waves flooding as far The Government of Indonesia support for the reconstruction and as two kilometers inland, destroyed (GoI) coordinated the overall rehabilitation of Aceh and Nias. everything in their wake: ports, reconstruction effort through The MDF pools approximately roads, bridges, dams, buildings the Badan Rehabilitasi dan US$678 million in contributions and people's homes. A subsequent Rekonstruksi (BRR---the Agency from 15 donors to support the earthquake in March 2005 caused for the Reconstruction of Aceh- implementation of the government's R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 7 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS ROUTES TO RECOVERY recovery and reconstruction 137 million was allocated through The IRFF project finances a range of program. The MDF is governed the Infrastructure Reconstruction infrastructure reconstruction works by a Steering Committee with Financing Facility (IRFF). The which include national, provincial representatives from the national Government of Indonesia provided and district roads, bridges, ports and provincial governments, donors, an additional US$107.3 million in and water systems of high quality. and civil society, and administered cofinancing for the project through Through these works, IRFF is by the World Bank as trustee of the the BRR. IRFF is supported by a contributing to the reconstruction fund. The MDF has contributed US$42 million Infrastructure En- of a strategic transport network in about ten percent of the overall abling Program (IREP), also fund- Aceh and Nias. IRFF utilized local reconstruction funds for Aceh and ed by the MDF. These two projects infrastructure investment plans Nias. These funds are channeled work in tandem to support the de- and the IREP strategy created through 23 projects in areas sign, finance and implementation in conjunction with the BRR, including recovery of communities, of more than 52 separate infra- to identify possible projects for large infrastructure and transport, structure subprojects implemented implementation. Environmental strengthening governance and by the Government of Indonesia. impact assessments and associated capacity building, sustaining the Implementation of the projects management plans ensure that environment, enhancing the overall was initially through the BRR but environmental safeguards are in recovery process, and economic after its closure has transitioned place. The difficult operating development and livelihoods. to the central Ministry of Public environment has posed challenges, Works (MPW) in close coordination both physical and institutional, The enormous task of reconstruct- with Provincial Public Works. The for project implementation. The ing large infrastructure in Aceh and World Bank provides supervision disasters had a major impact on Nias was implemented through a as the MDF's Partner Agency for infrastructure, especially the coordinated effort between GoI and the two projects. hardest-hit areas along Aceh's the MDF. Through the MDF, US$ west coast. Bridges, roads, ports 8 and other infrastructure were The infrastructure reconstruction water supply systems. The final completely wiped out, and local program also included the strategic investment in large-scale institutional capacity was already rebuilding of seaports, drainage infrastructure by the MDF is now weakened by several decades of systems, and water systems. getting underway as IRFF begins conflict. Sections of the damaged coastline the construction of a 50 kilometer and river estuaries were rebuilt stretch of national road from Calang The projects focused primarily on and further reinforced by new sea to Meulaboh on the west coast of reconstructing essential transport barriers and tidal protection walls. Aceh, including the Kuala Bubon infrastructure, providing access Bridge. This project is expected to centers of economic activity. In IRFF and IREP have already to provide livelihood benefits and some cases, such as the "New Town achieved significant results. They access to basic services for more Road" in the capital city of Banda have supported the design, finance than 900,000 inhabitants. Aceh, brand new roads were built. and implementation of more than 52 This is intended to ensure that the separate infrastructure subprojects Little has been reported on the eventual resumption of people's implemented by the Government overall impact of the newly built and pre-tsunami livelihoods can have of Indonesia. As of September 30, reconstructed infrastructure in the a better chance of succeeding. In 2010, 50 of these subprojects had areas affected by the earthquakes contrast, a number of roads selected already been completed, two were and tsunami. In an effort to for rehabilitation had not only under construction, and one project document candid perspectives of been damaged by the earthquake was in preparation stage. These two people living in the areas where and the tsunami, but had also projects working in tandem have IRFF and IREP projects have been been badly neglected during 25 thus far constructed approximately implemented, the project engaged years of armed conflict in Aceh 500 kilometers of national and a journalist to visit some of the between government forces and provincial roads, 87 kilometers project sites to conduct interviews the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). of district roads, five ports and 11 with people directly or indirectly R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 9 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS affected by selected infrastructure The following collection of stories works. This booklet presents the is not intended as an analytical result of this informal canvassing. report or an in-depth study of the It was intended to provide a sketch impact of the projects. It instead of the responses of local people provides a journalistic account towards these projects and the intended to capture impressions impact the projects may have had and perceptions from ordinary on their everyday lives. people in Aceh and Nias on how the recovery effort has affected In addition, the views and their lives, and influenced their perspectives of local public expectations, their frustrations, and officials, such as district chiefs and how they cope with the new realities senior administrators, were also after the disasters six years ago. sought and are included here. Most of the commentaries, however, came The people in post-tsunami from people speaking out openly Aceh and Nias face considerable and honestly on how they viewed challenges as they venture beyond the changes taking place around recovery. With the new facilities them following the construction provided through the IRFF and and rehabilitation of urban and IREP projects, however, they rural roads, ports, water systems now have a stronger foundation and other facilities. for rebuilding their livelihoods and moving towards sustainable economic growth. 10 Highway of Hope Project Name : New Town Access Road, Banda Aceh Cost : US$ 2.99 Million Construction Completion Date : 31 March 2009 Asset Management Hand Over : 9 April 2009 Before After R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 11 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS HIGHWAY OF HOPE The two-kilometer new highway, south of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province, was still unnamed, three months after it was officially opened on April 2009. But the four- lane freeway, known by its project title ­ New Town Access Road Stage 2 ­ has already attracted considerable economic activity. On both sides of the road, starting from the four-way intersection called Simpang Surabaya until it joins the Sukarno-Hatta Artery road, new shop houses, homes and restaurants have mushroomed. Some of the more imposing buildings include the Office of the Aceh Prosecutors Office, a Toyota show room and dealership, and a brand new petrol station run by the state-owned Pertamina oil company. Close by, a large terminal serves inter-provincial buses traveling to and from areas 12 like Medan, in neighboring North identified by the local authorities treasures, the natural beauty of Sumatra. as a project to be developed by Aceh Besar and the history and the Infrastructure Reconstruction culture to be found in Banda The New Town Access Road Stage 2 Financing Facility (IRFF) with Aceh. "Visitors can come here and is a brand new thoroughfare, unlike support from the Infrastructure witness how a land devastated by the coastal highways destroyed Reconstruction Enabling Program civil war and natural disaster can by the 2004 tsunami which killed (IREP). be transformed into a peaceful and close to 200,000 people in northern potentially prosperous society," she and western Aceh. However, the Vice-mayor Djamal has high hopes says. road was always part of the Banda that the road will be a key element Aceh master plan to expand the in developing the city's tourism To the residents of Batoh village, city limits and build a network industry. "We are collaborating located off the new highway, many of protocol roads supporting the with the administrations of Aceh changes have taken place, most expansion. Besar and Sabang districts to create of them for the better. Tarmiji, 52, a special tour package that would owner of the DhapuKopi restaurant, "Its construction was accelerated include all these three areas," she is one good example. Not long after so the area can develop faster and says. It is the same for the other the tsunami, when land values revives the local economy," says new inter-connecting highway. plunged to its lowest, Tarmiji took a Banda Aceh vice-mayor Illiza chance and bought two shops at the Sa'aduddin Djamal. As an extension Djamal envisions attracting strategic corner where the New Town of the New Town Access Road domestic tourists as well as visitors Access Road crosses the Simpang Stage 1, built by the Aceh-Nias from neighboring Malaysia and Surabaya-Batoh-Lampeuneureut Reconstruction and Rehabilitation other Asia countries in Asia, to Artery Road. As owner of a mini- Board (BRR), the Stage 2 Road was enjoy Sabang's beaches and marine supermarket in downtown Banda R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 13 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS HIGHWAY OF HOPE Aceh, he had planned to set up Tarmiji. His 24 employees get no says Juned, who is amazed at the another branch in the new location, salary. Instead, they share in the number of people trying to buy land thinking that it would serve the restaurant's earnings as his way around the new road, despite the growing number of residents in the of instilling responsibility and spiraling prices. neighborhood. Many survivors of accountability in managing the the tsunami, traumatized by their business. As the village chief, he is happy losses, had moved away from the that the area where he lives no coast and settled further inland, At the other end of the road, where longer floods during the rainy some of them in areas bordering the it forms a T-junction with the season, thanks to the drains built new road. Sukarno-Hatta ring road, retired to catch excess water and channel school teacher Juned Daud, who it elsewhere. The area behind his About a year ago, Tarmiji changed owns and runs a shop selling house, for example, used to be his mind, deciding instead to school supplies, shares the same perennially inundated during the invest in a coffee shop rather than optimism. As keuchiek or chief, monsoons, and the water would lie a mini-mart. Given, the Acehnese of Lampeuneureut village, he has stagnant for a long time, creating penchant for drinking coffee, it was seen the value of land around health hazards like dengue-causing the right decision. His two-floor the new road, once a patchwork mosquitoes. Today, the water has coffee shop ­ one of only two of this of swamp and paddy fields, rise disappeared and the area is dry all size in Banda Aceh -- is standing almost tenfold, from Rp 200,000 year round. room only when he regularly shows per square meter just two years ago. soccer matches on his gigantic 2 by Even so, he has seen outsiders fight While admitting that the road 1.5 meter flat screen monitor. to get plots of land closest to the has brought many benefits, he road. "I heard someone is looking also points to one negative side- "I will be doing a lot better when for land big enough for a mall, effect: increased criminal activity the new road is really busy," says and willing to pay good money," gravitating towards crowded 14 areas like bus terminals and commercial enterprises. "We worry that they may spill over into our neighborhoods," he said. To anticipate security problems, he and other people have formed a neighborhood watch program. A group of village volunteers also take turns patrolling the area at regular times during the day. For Mohammad Abubakar, the new road has brought nothing but good news. An elementary school teacher, Abubakar's home is on a side lane off the new road. Before it was built, he would take one hour every morning to drop off his three children to school on his motorcycle. Now it takes him only half an hour. He and his siblings moved to the area after they lost three members of the family to the tsunami. R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 15 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS HIGHWAY OF HOPE Rusnah, 35, a housewife and mother anywhere, Usop bought land whose husband works at a nearby farther inland and he and his wife construction site, says the new road continue to help farmers whose rice means that her three children do fields have shrunk significantly. not need to walk through swamps But where almost everyone is glad to reach their schools. It has also that the swamps are gone, they cut the travel time for her to go into actually miss them. "We used to town to do her marketing. "Instead pick wild spinach every day," says of walking to the nearest mini-bus Rusmiah, who now has to go to the station about two kilometers away local market to buy what she needs. across swamp land, I just wait by the new road for the bus or labi-labi Today, the biggest challenges facing to come along," says Rusnah. the community and the Banda Aceh government is to ensure the While life has been a lot easier and new road, linking four villages, is richer for most of the residents, maintained and put to appropriate especially young couples, some of use. Not long after it was officially the older people miss the former opened, the thoroughfare became carefree lifestyle of depending on a night-time racetrack for young nature for a lot of their sustenance. motorcyclists. Not any more. Usop, 56, and his wife Rusmiah, 47, had to sell the bit of land that Banda Aceh vice-mayor Djamal was not bought up for the road had anticipated this problem and project. Not wanting to move knew just how to deal with it. 16 "Every Friday after communal prayers, we gather youths and communicate with them on the need to maintain the facilities around their neighborhood," said Djamal. She claims such `socialization' is unending, and can be done in many ways different ways. "We sponsor competitions and reward neighborhoods which succeed in maintaining the cleanliness and safety of their living areas," she says. From her perspective, the final objective is to instill in local communities a sense of ownership towards public facilities like the new road so that they will voluntarily care for them without a lot of prodding from the government. R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 17 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS 18 Water from the Krueng Aceh Project Name : Siron Water Supply, Aceh Besar Cost : US$ 1.77 Million Construction Completion Date : 30 September 2009 Asset Management Hand Over : 13 April 2009 Before After R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 19 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS WATER FROM THE KRUENG ACEH Hung across the entrance of the The Siron Water Supply project Provincial Clean Water Company is one of the post-2004 tsunami (PDAM) in the Aceh Besar district reconstruction programs that town of Siron is a banner that reads, the Aceh provincial government "Water is precious, pay your water undertook to improve the delivery bill on time." It is a gentle reminder of public services. It was built to that consumers must pay for the supply clean water to about 7,500 privilege of using clean households in the newly developed Project Description: water piped right into residential area of Baitussalam, their homes, something where most of the housing and To provide clean drinking water to 10,000 new to families who infrastructure was destroyed in the households in Banda Aceh and Aceh for as long as they can 2004 tsunami, and to some 2,000 Besar. remember relied on homes located around the site of ground-water wells. the Siron treatment plant itself. "Many residents seem The source of the water is the to think water is a gift of God and Krueng Aceh River, which flows that it should be free," fumed an past the facility. Channeled exasperated Ayub, director of the through a 200-meter intake, 40 Siron water supply facility, which liters of water a second flows into was completed in March 2009 two treatment and filtration plants using funds from the World Bank's and then stored in large reservoir Infrastructure Reconstruction tanks. From there, it is run through Financing Facility (IRFF). a 19.5 kilometer pipe system to 20 homes around Siron and to the Baitussalam housing complex about three kilometers away. "They should be grateful, right?" Ayub asks rhetorically, "but getting them to pay their bills on time is like pulling hens' teeth." He has offered them a variety of enticements, like free umbrellas, if they pay their water bills on time, even if it is once every three months. He claims only 60 percent of his customers pay on time -- if at all -- the monthly average fees of Rp 15,000 to 20,000 per month. It is not that residents have been uninformed about the responsibilities that come with having clean water piped into their homes. An awareness campaign was conducted among groups of villagers by the IRFF teams long before the project was completed. R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 21 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS WATER FROM THE KRUENG ACEH The reluctance of consumers, tastes very metallic," says Mawardi. mostly laborers and farmers, to He still gets some of his water from pay for their clean water can be the well to wash his motorcycle and traced to the fact that they had to water the garden, but uses the piped pay Rp 650,000 for the initial pipe supply exclusively for drinking and connection. "This is a bit high for cooking. the people," says Mawardi Ali, a Siron resident and a member of Another Siron resident who seems the Aceh provincial parliament. quite happy with the new water He says many of them kept hoping supply facility is Mulyani, 35, a that a non-government organization mother of two young children and would come along and reimburse wife of a government employee. them for the installation costs She lives on a lane just off the main before they subscribed to the road that cuts across her village. service. After her children go off to school in the morning, she tends the booth Another reason why residents seem located in her front yard, offering a to be taking a cavalier attitude small selection of snacks and other towards paying for the water use is sundry items. that almost all homeowners in the district of Aceh Besar, have water "I like the convenience of having wells of their own. "Many of Siron's clean water inside the house," says residents, like myself, welcome the Mulyani, who no longer has to buy clean water because the well water bottled water for drinking. Like 22 Muwardi, she now uses the well Ayub's office and hand over the to water her garden, planted with money. Most Siron residents are flowers and herbs. not really averse to paying. They realize there is a price to pay for She is very happy about the new the convenience, and Mulyani for piped water supply, saying that one understands that getting piped before it was installed the water water means digging fewer wells. level in her well was getting so low Even so, she still asks, plaintively, she and her husband were seriously "Please ask them to lower the thinking of boring another well. In monthly fee." fact, many households own more than one well. But it would have cost Final commissioning of the plan is Rp 1 million and they didn't know dependent on actions to complete how to get that much money. When construction of a bridge over the the new project was announced, she Krueng Aceh River. rushed to register with the village chief to be a customer. "I was the first," she says proudly. Most of the 20 households located in Mulyani's lane now get reticulated water and, like her, they wait until their water bills pile up for three months or more before they go to R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 23 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS 24 The Way to Calang Project Name : Dayah Baro-Ujong Serangga, Calang Aceh Jaya Cost : USD$ 0.71 Construction Completion Date : 17 March 2008 MoU of Asset Operation / Maintenance : 26 October 2007 Before After R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 25 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS THE WAY TO CALANG Tarmiji, born and bred in Calang, capital of Aceh Jaya district, is a true survivor. In the days when the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels used to cause havoc in some communities, Tarmiji narrowly escaped being shot at while tending his store. In December 2004, after the quake struck, Tarmiji loaded his wife and kids on his motorcycle and raced towards the hills, escaping the tsunami that totally demolished the town. During the hard times after the disaster when all infrastructure was destroyed and supplies were hard to come by, Tarmiji rode his motorcycle to less-affected areas to buy packets of cigarettes to be sold in Calang. His first post-tsunami store was a make-shift tent, from which he sold basic foodstuff. 26 Today, Tarmiji is a thriving According to Tarmiji, the entrepreneur whose business surrounding land which sold for ventures are all located on a road Rp 300,000 per square meter has that has come to symbolize Calang's tripled in value since the three- recovery and future development. kilometer road was constructed. Destroyed by the tsunami five years Although empty lots can still ago, the newly-rebuilt Dayah Baro- be found, new construction and Ujung Serangga feeder road now existing shop houses, links Calang to the Banda Aceh- office buildings, Project Description: Calang highway. Cutting across six mosques and homes are Construction of new two lane road to villages, it is now home to more than clear indicators that the provide transportation access to Calang. 5,000 people who have returned to area is growing rapidly. pick up the threads of their lives. No one could be happier with the "I was the first to buy land here new road than Aceh Jaya regent and the first to set up shop," says Aznar Abdurrahman, who was Tarmiji, whose hardware store sells elected to his job just over a year everything from household goods to ago and has already laid out plans light construction materials. Next to rebuild and develop Calang town. to it, is the supermarket he also "This road is the key to developing owns and operates, which catered the area," he says. "But we are to the thousands of expatriates starting from zero and we still need working for NGOs and international a lot of help," who is confident the organizations in rebuilding Calang areas around the road will soon be after the tsunami. developed. R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 27 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS THE WAY TO CALANG As one of the districts hardest as the economy of Aceh Jaya district hit by the 2004 disaster, Calang continues to grow. With only one has a lot of catching up to do megawatt at its disposal, Calang with the other areas along Aceh's must rotate its power supply among picturesque west coast. All but the villages. That means frequent one house in the town was left blackouts. "Another thing we need standing when the 30-meter waves very urgently if Calang is to grow spawned by the tsunami swept up rapidly is the quick construction two kilometers inland. Ironically, of the Banda Aceh-Calang it was owned by one of the town's highway along the west coast," richest man, Mohamad Amin, also says the regent. Built by Korean known as `Nek Beng' because of construction company Ssangyong the frequency in which he deposits and funded by USAID, about three- his money in the local bank. One quarters of the 200-kilometer road of the few residents to survive, he has yet to be completed. has decreed that his house should remain untouched for posterity. Nevertheless, Calang seems to Destroyed along with the buildings be attracting people ready to were the town's infrastructure ­ try their luck at building a new roads, sources of clean water and community. If a bank is willing to the electricity network. open a branch, it can only mean more business is on the way. Bank The biggest problem Abdurrahman Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) first came foresees is the shortage of electricity to the area in 2006 when the Dayah 28 Baro-Ujung Serangga road was just But what makes the banker certain being planned. Today, the bank's that the road will become a growth customers have been growing by 30 area is the knowledge that the percent a year. Calang central market will soon be open for business. For 65-year "We have been getting more Alawiyah, who lives at the end of customers since the new road was the road, it will mean a shorter and built," said Bustanil, chief of the more comfortable ride to do her BRI branch, which is located in a shopping. She and her family were row of shop-houses on the Dayah also among Calang's few survivors, Baro-Ujung Serangga road. Many of living in the hills on coconuts for the bank's customers are small and three days until the water receded medium- entrepreneurs, traders and she was able to come down to and coffee-shop owners. But her destroyed home. It was almost increasingly, farmers from outlying three years before Alawiyah and areas who make a living from her family were able to move back rubber plantations or from growing into their house, rebuilt with the betel-nut and nutmeg are opening help of one of the many NGOs accounts as well. Among people which descended on Calang to help seeking credit from the bank are with the reconstruction. gold panners. Bustanil recalls one miner bringing in six kilograms of Five years after the tsunami, the gold to be traded for cash. BRR, which coordinates recovery R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 29 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS THE WAY TO CALANG efforts in Aceh and Nias, ended its mandate in April 2009. At the same time, most of the hundreds of international NGOs working in Aceh completed their programs, packed their bags and left. In the past five years, they had contributed significantly to the reviving local economy. With their departure, a big gap has been left behind, yet another challenge that the Calang community will have to face. One sign that Calang may be on the mend, is the Irma Fashion store, located in the building where the Calang central market will soon open its doors. The store, selling cosmetics and imported clothes and handbags, stands alone, amid all the empty shops around it. Now, that's confidence. 30 Bounty from the Padang Lageun Sea Barrier Project Name : Coastal Barrier, Aceh Jaya Cost : US$ 1.92 Million Construction Completion Date : 17 October 2008 MoU of Asset Operation / Maintenance : 25 April 2008 Before After R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 31 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS BOUNTY FROM THE PADANG LAGEUN SEA BARRIER Just a few hundred meters off the aggravating the damage caused by Banda Aceh-Calang highway, along the perennial flooding. In the course Aceh's west coast, is a scenic spot of reconstructing and rehabilitating where the Padang Lageun River the badly-hit west coast, the area empties out into the Indian Ocean. along the river was identified as In the past, this river has been needing urgent assistance. the cause of much distress to the residents living along its In collaboration with the Aceh Jaya Project Description: banks. "It flooded all the administration, the BRR-IRFF time during the monsoon embarked on two projects. The first To stabilize the river mouth thereby season," recalls Banta, was to build a protective barrier, providing safe access to the sea for the a long time resident jutting out 100 meters out to sea fishing community, and prevent flooding who has seen knee-high from the mouth of the river with the of the riverbanks. waters inundate his yard aim of breaking up the incoming and his house when the waves and reducing the amount of westerly winds blow. silting. The second was to truck in heavy rocks to reinforce about It is the same story for nine other 600 meters of the river bank. The villages, located 12 kilometers project also included the planting inland. Another problem was the of coastal pine trees to help prevent heavy sedimentation that settled at sand erosion. the mouth of the river, preventing or making it difficult for fishermen Completed in March this year, the to take their boats out to sea. sea barrier appears to have stopped the flooding and prevented excessive Then came the 2004 tsunami, which sedimentation at the mouth of the destroyed everything in its path, river, a welcome change both for the 32 fishermen living on the estuary as well as the farmers living farther inland, tending their plantations and cultivating their crops. The fishermen have also noticed an increase in the number of crabs, shrimps and mussels found along the river. "I can catch about 10 to 20 crabs weighing 1.5 kilograms each after setting my nets at night," says Yunardi, a fisherman who was elected keuci or chief of Padang Lageun village. Depending on the season, a fair-sized crab can sell for Rp 35,000 to 40,000. The previous night he also harvested two buckets-full of mussels from the river banks. Yunardi's catch is picked up by a buyer and sold at fish markets in either Calang or Banda Aceh. Sometimes, he will take the fish to the market himself. The crabs and the mussels are a welcome source of additional R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 33 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS BOUNTY FROM THE PADANG LAGEUN SEA BARRIER income when strong westerly winds Farther inland, perennial flooding squash and other vegetables to prevent him from venturing out to proved to be the biggest problem augment the income they get out sea, from where like most of the for farmers working on their of growing rice and working in the other fishermen, he usually brings rubber plantations and rice fields. rubber plantations. in a daily catch of 30 kilograms of The narrow road crossing a broad grouper and snapper fish. Around swathe of swampland is the only They also sell seasonal fruits like the small islands just offshore, link between the villages and the the durian, which grow abundantly the fishermen also come across Banda Aceh-Calang highway. in the area, and have been lobsters, a more lucrative but "Sometimes, when the winds and experimenting with the cultivation harder to find delicacy. the waves from the sea are really of cocoa, which in other districts bad, the floods cover the road and has become a major product. The While the fishermen are happy with prevent us from reaching the main villagers regularly wade out into the seawall and the barriers, they the marshes to gather shellfish and road for as long as two weeks," says fresh-water fish to add to their daily would like the jetties on both sides Padang village chief Mohammad diet. to be extended about 100 meters Yuni. farther out to sea. "Otherwise, All this has been made easier we worry that in a year's time the This means they can not replenish since the newly-built seawall and sedimentation will again block the their basic necessities and most barriers reduced the amount of passage of our boats," says Yunardi, importantly, they are unable to flooding, which often lasted for up who during the tsunami, managed deliver their produce to the main to six months. Now, five years since to swim with the waves until he road to be picked up and brought to his narrow escape from the tsunami, grabbed onto the top branch of a the markets in Calang, the closest Yuni is now more optimistic about tree. town. Like the 80 other families in the future than ever before. the village, Yuni grows pumpkins, 34 The Two in One Road Project Name : Trieng Gadeng-Pangwa, Gigieng-Iboih, Pidie Cost : US$ 1.17 Million Construction Completion Date : 5 May 2008 Asset Management Hand Over : 19 February 2009 Before After R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 35 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS THE TWO IN ONE ROAD Although Aceh's eastern coastline But affairs of the state were to "Now I understand the difficulty was spared the direct impact of change the course of the project, of extending the JK 13 road," said the 2004 earthquake and tsunami, which had been agreed between Pidie Jaya district head, H.M Gade it nevertheless suffered extensive Salam, referring to another road the MDF and the Pidie district damage from the side-effects. reconstruction project funded by government and duly signed on the MDF. April 2006. Hundreds of hectares of land were inundated by one-meter high He did acknowledge that the waters and overflowing rivers. The A few months later, however, the Trieng Gadeng-Pangwa road had floods devastated farmlands, roads Indonesian parliament or House of brought significant benefits since and other infrastructure. Representatives (DPR) approved its completion a few months ago. a request by the Aceh provincial The district of Pidie was identified government to have Pidie divided "This is an important road, and as one of the worst hit areas, with its into two separate districts: Pidie yet it is the most damaged, so we network of roads heavily damaged are certainly grateful," said Gade and Pidie Jaya. by the floods. It had a devastating Salam, who has been on the job for effect on the transportation system a mere five months. So what was once a project of two and as a consequence, on the local roads for one district became two This particular road reconstruction economy. roads for two separate administrative project also happens to be one that BRR and international units. The Trieng Gadeng-Pangwa has been added to the original 12 organizations rushed to the rescue, section is now located in the new infrastructure projects funded by providing funds for the repair district of Pidie Jaya while the the MDF, in special consideration and widening of two access roads Gigieng-Iboh portion remains in of the neglect it suffered during the into Pidie Jaja's district capital of Pidie. Together, the road passes years of armed conflict. Meureudu. through four sub-districts. 36 The five-kilometer Trieng Gadeng- meters onshore. Pangwa road was almost totally In fact, he may be the only destroyed by the after-effects of the farmer growing hybrid yellow- tsunami. In fact, today the road is skinned watermelon, a result of divided in two by the unfinished painstakingly cross-pollinating the reconstruction of the Cot Lheu blossoms. Bridge, located midway through the road. Abubakar harvests his watermelon patch three times Nevertheless, the upgraded road a year. A buyer Project Description: is benefitting local residents like comes to pick up Improvement of a kabupaten road. Abubakar, who was a fishermen his crop to resell before the tsunami and who is them at markets in Banda Aceh now trying his luck at growing and Medan. watermelons. Perhaps still recalling his days of According to Pidie District Head, catching fish, Abubakar also raises Gade Salam, agricultural produce freshwater fish and shrimps in a is the area's biggest source of pond, although it doesn't fetch as revenue, rice being a surplus much money as watermelons. commodity. "This is the only place that produces "This is why the new road has watermelons in this district," said helped my work," he said, "It Abubakar, who grows the fruit on takes me a lot quicker to get to the two hectares of land about 300 market, and less of my watermelons R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 37 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS THE TWO IN ONE ROAD get squashed on their way to the rides from point to point along the market." four-kilometer road. Meanwhile, some 15 kilometers Some of their regular customers away, the Gigieng-Iboih road has come from the nearby Teuku Cik had an even greater impact on the Di Pasi Foundation, which runs a residents living in the area. mosque, a dayah (Islamic religious classes) for 450 students in the At the Iboih Junction where the evenings and dormitories for 43 road meets the Banda Aceh-Medan elementary to secondary school highway, ojek (motorcycle taxi) students, orphaned by the three drivers do brisk business getting decades-long armed conflict. residents to and from their homes to the corner, where they usually "The students stay at the dorm transfer to a mini-bus for the eight- but go to school elsewhere, mostly kilometer ride to the market or by walking or by ojek," explained center of Sigli, capital of Pidie. Tengku Abdurrahman, who manages the place and teaches religious instruction. Are they happy with the newly- reconstructed road? "Of course, The 15-year old foundation, which we have less flat tires and we don't bears the name of the respected need to change bolts that often ulama (religious leader) which anymore," said one ojek driver. He established it, is unique in that charges Rp 4000 (US$ 0.40) for it receives no assistance from 38 the government, surviving solely Mohammad Yun, the keuci or village on donations from altruistic chef of Jaya Tunong, could not agree businessmen from as far away as more. The 103 households under Medan, capital of North Sumatra his supervision earn a livelihood province. from farming, mostly rice and from fishing. But it is mostly the residents around the area that provide the foundation Many families also grow chillis, with regular support, particularly onions and produce a snack called during the post-tsunami days, emping from the seeds of the melinjo when it took in 23,000 refugees, tree, which grow profusely in this who pitched up tents on its area. The produce are then collected 1.5 hectare-sized grounds. An by a muege or buyer, who then sells elementary school was set up by them at the market in Sigli. an international organization for the refugee children, who returned "The wives take care of the farming to their homes a year ago and the while the men go out to sea and school relocated somewhere else in fish," said Mohammad Yun, the neighborhood. although he admits that the fishing has been limited because of the To the students of this dayah, the monsoons. new road has unquestionably been a big boon. That's when the family finances rely on the sale of home-grown produce and on the road that enables the local economy to sustain them. R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 39 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS 40 The Simpang Mamplam and The Keude Samalanga Roads Project Name : Simpang Mamplam - Keude Samalanga, Bireun Cost : US$ 0.62 Million Construction Completion Date : 8 March 2008 Asset Management Hand Over : 24 February 2009 Before After R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 41 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS THE SIMPANG MAMPLAM AND THE KEUDEE SAMALANGGA ROADS Nurdin Abdul Rahman, the district To make up for lost time, Nurdin's head of Bireuen, is a man in a hurry. vision is to set up an industrial zone Elected to his job in 2006, he is full where the area's prime agricultural of ideas and suggestions on how products like rice, cocoa and to accelerate development in the soya bean can be processed and district he governs. "We need more exported directly without having to feeder roads, more power supply, go through Medan in North Sumatra more water sources if we want to province, which has been the case attract investors in the past. Project Description: and develop our Improvement of a kabupaten road a g r o - i n d u s t r y, " He thought of setting up a cocoa says Nurdin, processing plant but gave in to the acknowledging the contribution of district head of neighboring Pidie the newly-reconstructed Simpang Jaya district, who pre-empted him Mamplam - Keude Samalanga road by announcing his own plans to towards that effort. build one. "But we are talking with them about building a warehouse In fact, this particular area was in Bireuen where they can store selected not just as a post-tsunami the cocoa shipments before they reconstruction project, but also to are delivered to Lhokseumawe repair damage to the infrastructure port for export, and that's why we caused by neglect during three need more roads like this one," decades of armed conflict in Aceh. says Nurdin, referring to the IRFF- 42 constructed Simpang Mamplam- Keudee Samalanga road project. The residents who live along his road may agree with their district chief, but for different reasons. To them, the road, which passes through seven villages, provides an alternative route to the sub-district of Samalanga and to the town of Bireuen itself. Before, when it was filled with potholes and subject to frequently flooding, people were forced top take the much longer route via the Banda Aceh-Medan highway. "With the new road, we don't need to use the national highway any more and it's shorter," notes Syaifuddin, chief of Reum Barat, a village of about 850 people. Ironically, Syaifuddin is the first to admit that R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 43 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS THE SIMPANG MAMPLAM AND THE KEUDEE SAMALANGGA ROADS had it not been for the tsunami, system improved, making the road which eventually brought an end to look more attractive, residents are the armed conflict and established now making the effort to cultivate peace across the province, the decorative plants and flowers in repairs to the road would probably their front yards. The new road also never have been done. seems to have motivated residents to collectively carry out a clean- The danger now is the heavy traffic up program every Friday, clearing on the road, much of it public debris from drains and cutting back transport taking full advantage of grass and weeds. the refurbished short-cut. As a result, the 3.8-kilometre road now The fact that the local people has 10 speed-bumps or so-called are generally well-educated and "sleeping policemen" in an effort enjoy stable incomes may explain to slow down traffic. At first, the their awareness for environmental local administration even thought concerns. "Many children from of banning vehicles over a certain neighborhoods along this road go capacity, but in the end it decided on to attend universities," says against it for fear it would affect Syaifuddin, whose wife works for the delivery and pick-up of locally- the Bireun district government. produced commodities. The spirit of gotong royong, or Syaifuddin says because the road mutual assistance, is also applied has been widened and the drainage when it comes time to harvest the 44 rice fields, which happens twice up by mueges or buyers, who then a year. In fact, residents who own sell them at the market town of paddy fields follow a system in Simpang. which they plant rice together at the same time, ensuring that Syaifuddin himself owns four uniformity prevents birds and bugs hectares of fresh-water fish ponds. from ruining the crop. "This allows The area used to be a shrimp the rice to ripen longer in the stem, center, but production has been requiring less drying time after it mysteriously declining in the past is harvested," Syaifuddin explains, 10 years. Although he still reserves pointing to the fact that most houses some of the ponds for shrimp- have their own rice barns. breeding, Syaifuddin mostly produces fish. Besides rice farming, some of the villagers have vegetable gardens All this economic activity could set a little farther back from the never be sustained if the Simpang road, producing sweet potatoes Mamplam - Keude Samalanga road and peanuts, which are picked had not been rebuilt. R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 45 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS 46 Paving the Way for Profit Project Name : Bireun Roads, Bireun Cost : US$ 1.52 Million Construction Completion Date : 8 November 2008 Asset Management Hand Over : 24 February 2009 Before After R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 47 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS PAVING THE WAY FOR PROFIT The Bireuen road package There is an air of busy activity as encompasses two separate roads: men work on an irrigation drain the 5-kilometer Simpang Teupok while further on, the side roads Baroh to Lhok Awe-Awe and the were being repaired. And coffee 1.85 kilometer Simpang Tambu to houses are found at corners where Lhok Dagang. the road cuts across smaller side roads. Although they were both built with the same specifications, According to the Bireuen the end result administration, this road is slated Project Description: is distinctly to become a major protocol road Improvement of kabupaten roads d i f f e r e n t , aimed at providing the local perhaps due to economy with easy access to the the different socio-economic district capital. backgrounds of the impacted population. Sixty percent of the population impacted by the new road are The area around the Simpang farmers while 25 percent are Teupok Baroh road leading fishermen and the rest are involved towards Lhok Awe-Awe is mostly in cottage industries and civil a residential neighborhood. The servants working in the town of homes have spacious yards, shaded Bireuen. On the average, each by coconut or pinang (betel nut) household have two sources of trees. In some areas, rice paddies income. separate clusters of houses. 48 While agricultural products are the mainstay of the district's livelihood, the cottage industry seems to be a big part of it. In the village of Kuala Jeumpa, just 50 meters off the road, Jamali, helped by his wife Yusra, fry thinly sliced bananas, sweet potatoes and breadfruit to make the famous Bireuen kripik or chips. On a good day, they can sell about 100 kilograms of packaged chips at a stall by the side of the Banda Aceh- Medan highway. "We could make more if we had the capital," said Yusra. However, come Ramadhan in less than two months time, Yusra and her husband will get orders and business will pick up again. They personally deliver the packaged chips in big baskets R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 49 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS PAVING THE WAY FOR PROFIT astride a motorcycle, to a stall on the side of the highway, or to special food stores. "This is why I'm so happy that the road is fixed," said Jamali, who used to deliver the chips by bicycle, walking it rather than actually riding it, to prevent them from getting crushed. Farther down the road, eight newly- built fishing boats lay waiting to be put in water. "They have been ordered by a rich member of the people's council in Banda Aceh who wants to start a tuna fishing operation," said Fadli, whose father built the boats helped by three carpenters. He said fishermen usually go out to sea with three boats at a time, returning after a night out, with about 60 kilograms of tuna. This 50 is then taken to nearby Peudada "We need to have a program to "In our three years of existence, town to be processed and sent to teach motorists about safety on the we have never had any members Singapore. road," said Syarifuddin. defaulting," said Yurdani, who One person who is not too happy manages the cooperative. with the new road, even though A few signs pointing to places off he has weighed the benefits, is the road advertised the sale of The cooperative has been so Syarifuddin, the principal of the embroidered cloth. But none were successful, it is now experimenting Batee Timoh Public Elementary opened for business that particular with an insurance program for its School. day. members. "I fear for the safety of the children As if to support all this economic However, the economic activity because the road has become well- activity, at the end of the road that has clearly been fueled by the used and motorcycles or cars tend is a women's savings and loans completion of the Simpang Teupok to go quite fast on such a new road," cooperative, whose 283 members Baroh to Lhok Awe-Awe road, is said Syarifuddin. come from 28 villages, some nearby not seen on the other section of the others farther out. project. He had proposed to the chiefs of villages alongside the road to build The members, who mostly need Down the Simpang Tambu road speed bumps to slow down the money to provide capital for their towards Lhok Dagang, it is evident traffic, but they disapproved of the industries, can borrow up to Rp 3 that the residents here, who mostly idea. million, paying a 2 percent monthly raise fresh-water shrimps and milk interest rate after becoming a fish, are less well-off than people member. living on the `other' road. R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 51 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS PAVING THE WAY FOR PROFIT Here, amid the fish and shrimp Asalam admits that the road has ponds, the homes look worn and been good for business. "More dilapidated, even though they people pass through this road now were built after the tsunami, and that it's been repaired," he said. the scene along the road lacks the signs of prosperity found on the Farther inland, in the village of other road. Lhok Dagang, slightly off the main road Suleiman the village chief In front of one house next to a fish agrees the project road has brought pond, Musa Asalam at the village some benefits. of Lhok Dagang village, sits at an He owns one hectare of rice field in open stall, with a weighing scale the nearby sub-district of Pandrah, and big ice-chest next to him, filled where he harvests once a year and with 10 kilograms of jumbo shrimps the road has made it much easier from the nearby ponds. for him to go back and forth to work. "I offer it to passersby, and whatever A school bus, provided by one of the is left goes to the muege who comes NGOs now picks up children from at 5 pm," said Asalam, referring to the village for the one-hour ride the fish agent who collects fish from to schools in the town of Jenieb, people like Asalam. He owns no including Suleiman's children. pond of his own but farmers trust him to sell their daily catch on the But Suleiman is unhappy that the road side. promise to repair the side road 52 used during the construction has not been fulfilled. Trucks carrying material and heavy equipment had to use this side-road past his home because the bridge to the access road was too narrow and too weak to take in the trucks. "Not only that, because we did not ask for money for the use of our roads, the villagers were promised tents to be used for ceremonies, and the chairs that go with them," complained Suleiman, "but until now, we were given nothing." Suleiman's case illustrates the importance of a small but relevant aspect that is often either forgotten or insufficiently addressed by infrastructure project managers. R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 53 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS 54 The Port at Gunung Sitoli Project Name : Gunung Sitoli Port, Nias-North Sumatra Cost : US$ 3.67 Million Construction Completion Date : 31 October 2008 Asset Management Hand Over : 19 December 2008 Before After R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 55 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS THE PORT AT GUNUNG SITOLI One Saturday morning in July, the wooden cargo boat Cahaya Baru I unloaded sacks of rice onto a waiting truck at the harbor of Gunung Sitoli, capital of the small island of Nias off the western coast of Sumatra. Ship captain Arefa had waited an hour for his turn to berth alongside the wharf, behind a line of other boats. One boat carried construction materials: sacks of cement, barbed wire and reinforcing steel rods. Another boat had just unloaded crates of chicken eggs. "It's been a lot busier now that the port has been rebuilt," said Arefa. By his estimation, 60 cargo boats use the Gunung Sitoli docks every month, a 20 percent increase since the port's reconstruction was completed in January 2009. 56 Across the way, by the old wharf, the Nias' shoreline. In some areas, the roll-on roll-off cargo and passenger coast actually moved as much as 100 ferry Pulo Tello rested alongside the meters inland, with the land surface wharf, prior to its next departure to itself rising as much as 2.9 meters the North Sumatran port of Sibolga in some parts of the island. As a on the mainland, a distance of some result, much of Nias' infrastructure nine-hours sailing time. was heavily damaged, particularly the Gunung Sitoli For the past four years, the town port. of Gunung Sitoli had to make do Project Description: with just one wharf, while the pier Regarded as a vital Reconstruction and rehabilitation of the next door one was rebuilt following cog in the local deep water port for Nias Island the heavy damage caused by the economy, it was 2004 earthquake and tsunami and accorded a top priority in the list another major quake, registering of recovery projects approved by 8.5 on the Richter scale, four the Government and international months later. While the first organizations. "The port is the disaster caused the deaths of 122 gateway to Nias," said Regional people, the second tremor killed Secretary Marthinus Lase, pointing 800 more and left another 2,000 to its importance of serving not just people injured. Nias itself, but also South Nias and the newly-created districts of North The double-disaster also altered Nias and West Nias. R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 57 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS THE PORT AT GUNUNG SITOLI As the island slowly recovers from with the growing number of boats the trauma and the destruction, serving Gunung Sitoli, the harbor the people are back to fishing and master seems to be bending the producing the island's two main rules and allowing smaller crafts to crops - copra and rubber. These dock there as well. commodities are loaded on boats and taken to Sibolga, the nearest Moored next to the old wharf, the mainland port. The same boats Pulo Tello was taking a break before bring back much-needed consumer its next 12-hour trip back to Sibolga. items and processed products. She makes the trip every fortnight, carrying up to 25 cars or 21 trucks "What we really appreciate about and 400 passengers. "The boat is the new port is that a re-organization always full and people want it to of the system has taken place," says run twice a week rather than every Lase. "With the frequency of boats fortnight," said Tema Hendate, an coming in, the goods don't stay too official of PT Pelindo, the state- long in the warehouses." Given the owned company which manages the popularity of the new port, he feels port. As with cargo boats, Hendate the old wharf and the 20-metre-long has seen a sharp increase in the bridge linking the the two should number of passengers traveling to have been rebuilt to improve the and from Gunung Sitoli port. port's overall capacity. According to Hendate, now that The new port is only meant for the island has two new districts, vessels of 10 tons or more, but the Nias district government is 58 seriously thinking of increasing the that creates safety problems," he frequency of the Pulo Tello to once said. a week and to include stops in both those districts. Lase also feels that with rising activity at the port area, more Likewise, there are plans to increase warehouse space needs to be built to the sailing frequency of the bigger, improve efficiency. "Right now, we 3,000-ton passenger ferry MV would be most grateful if someone Lawit, which makes regular runs would repair the 20-metre-long from Jakarta to Padang, Nias and bridge linking the two port areas as Sibolga and then back to Jakarta, well as the other port," he said. from once to twice a month. With two new districts created this "The demand for traveling has year, making it a total of four, Nias been increasing ever since the has ambitions to become a separate new port was built," said Hendate. province from North Sumatra by the However, he lamented the fact that year 2020, inviting businessmen there is still no proper terminal to to invest in the island. "We are accommodate the growing number inspired by the new port because of passengers using the port's it has opened up new horizons for facilities. Nias District Secretary us," said Lase. Lase raised the same complaint. "There are no facilities separating the passengers from the cargo being loaded and unloaded, and R O U T E S T O R E C O V E RY I N P O S T- T S U N A M I A C E H & N I A S 59 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE IRFF PROJECTS 62