THE ACEHNESE MUST GUIDE THEIR OWN RECONSTRUCTION

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.