Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Banda Aceh (Fides Service) - After more than six years after the devastating tsunami that struck Indonesia in December 2004 hundreds of residents of the city of Banda Aceh in northwestern Indonesia, are still living in "temporary" and very poor accommodation. In a statement issued by the local authorities it states that the 21,400 homes destroyed or damaged in Banda Aceh have all been rebuilt and that other 1,600 have been made to allow some families to live in better conditions. However, of about half a million Indonesians who according to the UN have been left homeless, 170 families, about 800 people living in the highly populated capital of the autonomous province of Aceh are still in "temporary" shacks, below the standards. The situation has emerged from a survey conducted by the IRIN agency.
In the disaster of 2004, 227,898 people died, while another 2 million were displaced in 14 countries in Southeast Asia and East Africa. Most of today's "homeless" in Banda Aceh are still living compressed into two unhealthy camps set up in Bakoy and Ulee- Lheu. Built quickly after the disaster, many shacks are in terrible conditions and the stench of the sewers make the air unbreathable. The situation of the residents is currently under observation because authorities are deciding to clean up the camps to build roads. In Bakoy, in the southwest of the city, about 200 displaced families are waiting for housing. During the supervision of 140,000 new buildings throughout the province of Aceh, the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias of (BRR) said that none of the displaced persons would have remained in temporary shacks after the month of June 2007. According to a local official, responsible for post-tsunami cases, the situation should improve soon. "The government and the Saudi Charity Campaign have just completed the construction of dozens of homes in the districts of Baitussalam and Darussalam. Once every single case has been examined, the victims of Bakoy will return to their homes". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 16/06/2011)
