THE ACEHNESE MUST GUIDE THEIR OWN RECONSTRUCTION

By Pramoedya Ananta Toer and - - Reprint | | Print |

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JAKARTA, Mar 31 2005 (IPS) - As the response to the overwhelming destruction in Aceh from the December 26 tsunami enters the reconstruction phase, the Indonesian government and foreign aid agencies must limit their roles in providing financial and technical assistance to the Acehnese, writes Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesia\’s leading novelist. In this article, Toer writes that the reconstruction work, including the generation of designs and setting of priorities, must be left to the Acehnese themselves, who know their territory best and what they need and how to achieve it. The Indonesian central government must respect what they say. This does not mean, however, that the money allocated and donated by foreign countries for reconstruction should be managed by the Acehnese. Corruption in Indonesia, whether in Aceh or in other parts of the country, is rampant. It should not be surprising if funds donated by foreign countries for tsunami victims are embezzled or stolen. To prevent this from happening, foreign donations for the reconstruction of Aceh must be managed by international non-governmental organisations.

As the response to the overwhelming destruction in Aceh from the December 26 tsunami enters the reconstruction phase, the Indonesian government and foreign aid agencies must limit their roles in providing financial and technical assistance to the Acehnese. The reconstruction work, including the generation of designs and setting of priorities, must be left to the Acehnese themselves, who know their territory best and what they need and how to achieve it. The Indonesian central government must respect what they say.

The history of the Acehnese demonstrates that as a group they are very strong and resilient, fully capable of doing everything by themselves. The only problem facing them is that they have no resources to rebuild their province. This, however, is just a technical matter: many countries have donated huge amounts of money for the survivors of the tsunami, which left over 130,000 Indonesians dead or missing.

Infrastructure — specifically roads, ports and airports– must be the first priority in reconstruction, followed by housing and agriculture, both at the provincial and regency levels. Equally important is land demarcation. For Indonesians, including Acehnese, land is identical with family honour. The task is formidable, especially in the field of agriculture. The borders of land owned by the Acehnese have been destroyed by the tsunami. That alone cannot be resolved in three years. Hopefully, there will be no conflict stemming from this issue. The government should appeal to the public to engage relevant authorities in demarcating land borders to avoid possible conflicts. The local people must also control and monitor land demarcation.

As for the Acehnese orphans, the government should encourage adoption. Any party, regardless of its religion or political affiliation, should be allowed to adopt the Acehnese children who lost their parents to the disaster. Religion should never become a barrier to adoption.

Entrusting reconstruction to the Acehnese does not mean, however, that the money allocated and donated by foreign countries for this process should be managed by the Acehnese. There is no denying the fact that corruption has become a culture in Indonesia, whether in Aceh or in other parts of the country, and is rampant.

Top-level figures guilty of corruption in Indonesia, including former president Mohamed Suharto and his cronies, have not been punished. After 32 years in office, Suharto fell from power after widespread rioting in 1998 and has so far escaped efforts to bring him to justice for the decades of dictatorship. By some estimates, he killed between two and three million people during his authoritarian reign. His cronies remain corrupt to this day. Thus it should not be surprising if funds donated by foreign countries for tsunami victims are embezzled or stolen. To prevent this from happening, foreign donations for the reconstruction of Aceh must be managed by international non-governmental organisations.

Current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a retired Army general, won Indonesia’s first-ever direct presidential elections in September 2004, unseating the incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri. However, I don’t consider any retired military figure to be a true leader. The only function of the military in Indonesia is to suppress the people; it does nothing to prevent foreign invasion.

Until now the Acehnese have been fighting against government troops sent to wipe out the so-called separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM). The central government has been fighting GAM since 1976, when GAM leaders declared their armed struggle for independence. To date, the outlawed GAM remains strong and enjoys relatively significant popular support from the people at the grassroots level.

GAM does not pose any danger to the reconstruction work in Aceh. First of all, GAM is not a rebellion movement but a forum where the Acehnese are fighting against the arbitrariness of the Javanese people’s treatment of them. Former president Megawati Sukarnoputri sent troops to the region to crush the Acehnese, which is puzzling given the fact that the they were strong supporters of her father Sukarno.

For over 100 years, the Acehnese fought the Dutch colonialists, who were supported by mercenaries from Java. Although they were well-armed, the Dutch troops failed to defeat the Acehnese, who relied on traditional weapons. Today the resilient and capable Acehnese people should be entrusted with the reconstruction of their region. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)