Saturday, December 24, 2005
Tsunami: A Year Later
Tsunami: A Year Later
Michael Stittle, CTV.ca News
One year after a massive tsunami struck Banda Aceh, the reconstruction continues. The natural disaster altered the city's landscape forever. But, less visible are the deep psychological wounds carried by the survivors.
"Everybody has a story here of what happened to them," Canadian Red Cross worker Russ Froese told CTV.ca. "I'm so impressed by how resilient these people are and how they get on with life. But if you scratch the surface you find all kinds of issues."
The island of Sumatra is a highly earthquake-prone area. Tremors are as common as the rain, and residents never feared the shaking until Dec. 26, 2004.
"We get tremors every week," Froese said. "And if there are any large tremors, people don't take them in stride like they used to. There's a lot of terror in their eyes. They'll be calling relatives; they'll be looking to the ocean to see if another wave is coming."
Froese said the anniversary will be a dark, sorrowful affair. Everyone has lost friends and family.
"The anniversary is going to be something that is very personal for people," he said.
"We're not trying to have big events, because people will be going to mass graves, which are all over the city, and doing very personal things to commemorate their loss and remember people."
The Canadian Red Cross has committed itself for 10 years to help rebuild the city. It is a complex operation. Most of Banda Aceh survived the tsunami relatively unscathed, including the city's airport and downtown area. However, the outlying coastal area -- roughly a third of the city -- was wiped out, destroying the fishing industry.
"They had a lot of the villages and housing right near the water," Froese said.
"It's not habitable now because the land is sunk. A lot of it is underwater. The wells have been tainted by seawater. You have to move them and that's where the problems have arisen.
Because you have to find replacement land, get the government to come up with a policy of who's going to pay for it, and register people."
According to Froese, most of the land was never registered before the disaster. It must now be done in the customary Muslim manner, he said, using witnesses. But in some villages, where the tsunami killed up to 80 per cent of the population, there are no witnesses left.
Waiting for housing
In Banda Aceh, an estimated 70,000 homeless can only wait, their lives still on hold.
Zoelfitri, who like some Indonesians only goes by one name, lives in a homemade shanty on the outskirts of the city, where he cares for what remains of his family. He knows that international aid has reached Banda Aceh, but is frustrated with the results.
"We know a lot of money is going to Aceh, but where is it? Where are the buildings? Where is the construction?" Zoelfitri, 32, told The Associated Press.
Aid organizations are working hard to construct new homes. Sewage pipes are also being laid, and a major road on the west side of the city is being rebuilt.
According to AP, roughly $4.5 billion US in relief money has been collected for Banda Aceh and the province of Aceh:
The World Food Program estimates it has spent more than $125 million US in Aceh during 2005. Of that amount, $20 million US bought helicopters and airplanes to transport survivors and cargo, while $26 million purchased 72,000 tons of food aid.
British-based Oxfam gave $11.5 million for public health, including sanitizing water and the construction of new wells.
Save the Children has focused on restoring schools, investing $1 million US on text books and supplies. About 20 per cent of Aceh's schools were destroyed.
There are billions of dollars still to be used, as charitable organizations like the Canadian Red Cross prepare to spend years in the reconstruction.
Banda Aceh is not alone in its struggle to rebuild. The United Nations estimates that more than 230,000 people died either directly or in the weeks that followed the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami. At least 31,229 people died in Sri Lanka, 10,749 in India and 5,395 in Thailand.
Many of the survivors are still waiting for adequate shelter.
"Large numbers of survivors remain forced to live in sub-standard conditions that fail to meet criteria for adequate housing and living conditions dictated by international human rights standards," the UN said in a statement.
Sri Lankans hope for change
The problem is typical of many areas in Southeast Asia. In Galle, Sri Lanka, the conditions are far worse. About 95 per cent of the population is still homeless, living in flimsy shacks with little protection against the heat and rain.
Shivani, who lives in a tin-roofed temporary shelter in Galle with her daughter, is one of the many victims waiting for help.
"I'm not asking for a palace," Shivani told CTV's Matt McClure. "Just a small home like we had before, where my daughters and I can forget about everything we lost that day."
Basic sanitation problems, like garbage collection, remain unresolved. Worse, when the tsunami struck it carried waste that polluted the city's water supplies.
Recovery has been slow partly because the tsunami crippled the city's infrastructure, leaving Galle's workers helpless to rebuild. The mayor, Mohammad Arif, still remembers the desperation in the first days following the disaster.
"When we saw this devastation, we didn't know what to do," he said. "We were not eating, we were not drinking, because we were so sorry."
Aid groups like the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) are hoping that rebuilding the city's infrastructure will help solve Galle's homeless crisis. FCM has an $11-million partnership with Sri Lanka to restore its municipalities.
One year after the tsunami brought so much destruction to Banda Aceh and Galle, aid workers know it will take far longer before their efforts bring noticeable results. In Banda Aceh, where most of the city survived, the slow progress can be baffling.
"On one hand, you've got a city that is working, thriving, moving along," Froese said. "It's so frustrating not to be able to just turn this around."
Michael Stittle, CTV.ca News
One year after a massive tsunami struck Banda Aceh, the reconstruction continues. The natural disaster altered the city's landscape forever. But, less visible are the deep psychological wounds carried by the survivors.
"Everybody has a story here of what happened to them," Canadian Red Cross worker Russ Froese told CTV.ca. "I'm so impressed by how resilient these people are and how they get on with life. But if you scratch the surface you find all kinds of issues."
The island of Sumatra is a highly earthquake-prone area. Tremors are as common as the rain, and residents never feared the shaking until Dec. 26, 2004.
"We get tremors every week," Froese said. "And if there are any large tremors, people don't take them in stride like they used to. There's a lot of terror in their eyes. They'll be calling relatives; they'll be looking to the ocean to see if another wave is coming."
Froese said the anniversary will be a dark, sorrowful affair. Everyone has lost friends and family.
"The anniversary is going to be something that is very personal for people," he said.
"We're not trying to have big events, because people will be going to mass graves, which are all over the city, and doing very personal things to commemorate their loss and remember people."
The Canadian Red Cross has committed itself for 10 years to help rebuild the city. It is a complex operation. Most of Banda Aceh survived the tsunami relatively unscathed, including the city's airport and downtown area. However, the outlying coastal area -- roughly a third of the city -- was wiped out, destroying the fishing industry.
"They had a lot of the villages and housing right near the water," Froese said.
"It's not habitable now because the land is sunk. A lot of it is underwater. The wells have been tainted by seawater. You have to move them and that's where the problems have arisen.
Because you have to find replacement land, get the government to come up with a policy of who's going to pay for it, and register people."
According to Froese, most of the land was never registered before the disaster. It must now be done in the customary Muslim manner, he said, using witnesses. But in some villages, where the tsunami killed up to 80 per cent of the population, there are no witnesses left.
Waiting for housing
In Banda Aceh, an estimated 70,000 homeless can only wait, their lives still on hold.
Zoelfitri, who like some Indonesians only goes by one name, lives in a homemade shanty on the outskirts of the city, where he cares for what remains of his family. He knows that international aid has reached Banda Aceh, but is frustrated with the results.
"We know a lot of money is going to Aceh, but where is it? Where are the buildings? Where is the construction?" Zoelfitri, 32, told The Associated Press.
Aid organizations are working hard to construct new homes. Sewage pipes are also being laid, and a major road on the west side of the city is being rebuilt.
According to AP, roughly $4.5 billion US in relief money has been collected for Banda Aceh and the province of Aceh:
The World Food Program estimates it has spent more than $125 million US in Aceh during 2005. Of that amount, $20 million US bought helicopters and airplanes to transport survivors and cargo, while $26 million purchased 72,000 tons of food aid.
British-based Oxfam gave $11.5 million for public health, including sanitizing water and the construction of new wells.
Save the Children has focused on restoring schools, investing $1 million US on text books and supplies. About 20 per cent of Aceh's schools were destroyed.
There are billions of dollars still to be used, as charitable organizations like the Canadian Red Cross prepare to spend years in the reconstruction.
Banda Aceh is not alone in its struggle to rebuild. The United Nations estimates that more than 230,000 people died either directly or in the weeks that followed the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami. At least 31,229 people died in Sri Lanka, 10,749 in India and 5,395 in Thailand.
Many of the survivors are still waiting for adequate shelter.
"Large numbers of survivors remain forced to live in sub-standard conditions that fail to meet criteria for adequate housing and living conditions dictated by international human rights standards," the UN said in a statement.
Sri Lankans hope for change
The problem is typical of many areas in Southeast Asia. In Galle, Sri Lanka, the conditions are far worse. About 95 per cent of the population is still homeless, living in flimsy shacks with little protection against the heat and rain.
Shivani, who lives in a tin-roofed temporary shelter in Galle with her daughter, is one of the many victims waiting for help.
"I'm not asking for a palace," Shivani told CTV's Matt McClure. "Just a small home like we had before, where my daughters and I can forget about everything we lost that day."
Basic sanitation problems, like garbage collection, remain unresolved. Worse, when the tsunami struck it carried waste that polluted the city's water supplies.
Recovery has been slow partly because the tsunami crippled the city's infrastructure, leaving Galle's workers helpless to rebuild. The mayor, Mohammad Arif, still remembers the desperation in the first days following the disaster.
"When we saw this devastation, we didn't know what to do," he said. "We were not eating, we were not drinking, because we were so sorry."
Aid groups like the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) are hoping that rebuilding the city's infrastructure will help solve Galle's homeless crisis. FCM has an $11-million partnership with Sri Lanka to restore its municipalities.
One year after the tsunami brought so much destruction to Banda Aceh and Galle, aid workers know it will take far longer before their efforts bring noticeable results. In Banda Aceh, where most of the city survived, the slow progress can be baffling.
"On one hand, you've got a city that is working, thriving, moving along," Froese said. "It's so frustrating not to be able to just turn this around."
# posted by Alexis @ 12:37 p.m. 
