Aceh Highlights (Feb 8)

From AFP (via CNA Feb 8):

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia: Thousands of Indonesians left homeless by the tsunami will be able to move into newly-finished barracks next week, but despite the promise of shelter, food and water, many instead want to return to the windswept piles of rubble they once called home...

But it's not all about the love of the land:

Like many of those who lived through the disaster, Basyah and his villagers fear that authorities will use the barrack relocation centres as a means of controlling people and dispossessing them of their ancestral land.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch group has warned that the government, which has a history of abuses committed during conflict to crush separatists in Aceh, could misuse the camps, particularly if the military becomes embroiled. It said people may be railroaded into the barracks from their current shelter in tented refugee camps without being given a chance to explore other alternatives.

Read the whole thing.

Continuing on a theme I touched on earlier, the influx of foreign aid workers predictably brings prosperity to those who are able to capitalise on it. But some are beginning to worry about the day it's all going to end. From AP (Feb 8):

While much of the provincial capital [Banda Aceh] lies in ruins, the influx of newcomers has created a mini-boom for parts of Banda Aceh's local economy. Shiny new SUVs clog the streets, the few remaining shops and restaurants do a steady business, and hotels and car rental agencies are fully booked. Salaries for drivers, interpreters and others have shot up to many times their previous levels, while rents for homes and offices have skyrocketed.

Yet many already worry that the boom will turn to bust. Local businessmen see Indonesia's March 26 target date for taking over relief operations from foreign groups as a commercial doomsday.

"There is good business now, but we're dependent on foreign customers and when they go back, things will likely return to how they were before," [Faisal Amir, who runs a P&P grocery store] said, taking a break from loading boxes of bottled water onto a gleaming SUV.

But the optimistic spirit of the Indonesians cannot be dampened:

But while the boom may be fleeting, [Souvenir dealer Mohammad Noor] sees other prospects beckoning: An American he met here after the tsunami is now talking about exporting Acehnese handicrafts in bulk.