Introduction

Indonesia, the country worst hit by the December 2004 tsunami that struck numerous countries across Asia, is located in the “Ring of Fire” consisting of volcanic arcs and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin. The Basin sits between the Indo- Australian and Eurasian plates, making it a zone of frequent volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Historically, several of the natural disasters that have occurred in Indonesia have been among the worst in the world. The Tambora and Krakatoa eruptions in 1815 and 1883 were among the largest eruptions in history. Further, the contour and climate of the archipelago increase the likelihood of other deadly natural disasters such as cyclones, droughts, and floods. From 1907 to mid-2006 there were 338 natural disasters in Indonesia—an average of around three to four disasters per year. ¹ On average, approximately 700 people died, 1,200 were injured, 5,200 became homeless, and 64,000 people were affected per event. ² Indonesia is considered to be among the five countries that most frequently experience deadly natural disasters—the others being the US, the People’s Republic of China, India, and the Philippines. Recent data suggests that the frequency of these deadly events may be increasing in these countries (Figure 1 [ PDF 64.4KB | 1 pages ]).

In terms of human fatalities the tsunami on 26 December 2004 was the worst natural disaster in Indonesian history. Most people in Aceh and North Sumatra and other nearby parts of Indonesia felt the tremor caused by a massive earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale that occurred beneath the seabed about 30 kilometres off the west of Sumatra at about 8 am local time. Shortly after, a great tsunami hit the northern and western parts of Aceh and North Sumatra as well as other smaller islands such as Nias and Simeulue. Ten-metre waves struck Banda Aceh, the provincial capital city of the province of Aceh, at a tremendous speed of around 800 kilometres per hour. In some places waves swept over seven kilometres inland. Waves as high as twelve metres hit the towns of Meulaboh, Calang, and Lamno in western Aceh and in some places up to about ten kilometres from the coastline were submerged (Soehaimi et al., 2005). The official death toll (including missing) in Aceh and Nias was close to 167,000. More than 500,000 persons were displaced. Official reports also listed widespread destruction, including the loss of over 110,000 houses, 3,000 kilometres of roads, 14 seaports, 11 airports and air strips, 120 arterial bridges, 2,000 school buildings, and 8 hospitals, among much other damage (BRR and International Partners, 2005; BRR, 2006)

On 28 March 2005, while Aceh was still coping with the first emergency, another major earthquake devastated the western part of Sumatra. The epicentre of this earthquake, 8.7 on the Richter scale, was located to the north of Nias—halfway between Simeulue and the Nias islands (Map 1 [ PDF 374.5KB | 1 pages ]). Although the government never declared this to be a national disaster, for an island as small and poor as Nias the impact was overwhelming. Over 800 people died and 6,300 were injured. In the capital city of Gunungsitoli around 70 per cent of the buildings collapsed. There was widespread fear and it was estimated that over 15,000 people fled the island. The earthquake disrupted the livelihood of the entire population of Nias, most of whom are farmers and fishermen (Kompas, 29 March 2005; Aceh Media Center, 5 May 2005; BPS Kabupaten Nias, 2005).

This survey aims to evaluate the rehabilitation process in Aceh and Nias following the tsunami and earthquake. Our evaluation sets out to assess progress and to identify the challenges of redevelopment. With this goal in mind, we undertook three main activities. First, we conducted a survey of the data sources on the impact of the disasters in Aceh and Nias and on the progress of reconstruction. Second, we analysed data from the census (Sensus Penduduk Aceh dan Nias or SPAN 2005) carried out by the Indonesian Central Statistics Agency (Badan Pusat Statistik or BPS) in Aceh and Nias in September 2005 to obtain a detailed picture of the impact at household level (see BPS, 2005a; 2005b, hereafter cited as SPAN 2005).³ Third, we arranged interviews with national government officials in Jakarta, local government officials, officials at the Badan Rekonstruksi dan Rehabilitasi (BRR) reconstruction agency, contractors, and many others (Appendix I. [ PDF 72.9KB | 2 pages ]). Most of the interviews took place in January, May, and June 2006. A triangulation procedure was applied to draw inferences from these in-depth interviews (Patton, 2002).⁴

This monograph is structured as follows. Following this introduction, background material is provided on the socio-economic and political situation in Aceh and Nias before the disasters. In particular, information is provided about political conflicts and the Aceh freedom movement. The next section summarises the impact of the December 2004 tsunami in Aceh and the March 2005 earthquake in Nias. This section is followed by a discussion of the emergency relief stage. Three main issues need to be elaborated upon concerning the foundations of the recovery:

• the Master Plan,
• the establishment of the reconstruction and rehabilitation agency (BRR), and
• the peace agreement between the Government of Indonesia (GoI) and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Then we describe recent progress in various areas—land titling, housing, livelihood arrangements, school and health services, and infrastructure—and note that progress towards meeting goals is slow and that huge challenges remain. In this section we also discuss issues relating to managing expectations, coordination and commitments, budget realisation, and the exit strategy of the BRR. Finally, we set out some conclusions.

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