SBY approves Aceh reconstruction revision

Desy Nurhayati , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 04/23/2008 1:07 AM | National

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has approved revision of the reconstruction master plan for Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and Nias in a bid to boost program efficiency.

National Development Planning Board chairman Paskah Suzetta said after a late Monday meeting at the Presidential Office in Jakarta that master plan revision was needed to reflect ongoing project developments.

The current reconstruction projects, conducted by the Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR), followed the master plan issued in 2005 through a presidential regulation.

Paskah said, "The revision concerns the completion of infrastructure projects, including houses, roads and irrigation systems. The construction of public facilities, including hospitals and schools, has been expanded from the initial plan."

BRR has faced obstacles in completing reconstruction in the 2004 tsunami-hit provinces due to internal and external problems, causing delays for the agency and its partners implementing large-scale projects since their 2005 start-up.

Agency chief Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said the revision was required as they were building more houses and facilities than originally planned.

"We had planned to construct only 90,000 houses, but this was raised to 161,000. In the existing master plan we did not include the creation of paddy fields," he said.

The government initially allocated Rp 64 trillion (US$7 billion) for reconstruction projects in Aceh and Nias, but during the last three years the projects only used between Rp 23 trillion and Rp 24 trillion.

"We will only spend Rp 32 trillion through next year. It is half of the amount that the government initially allocated. So the BRR has not been able to manage fund volume as hoped," Paskah said.

The meeting also discussed the transfer of assets from BRR, which will end its term in 2009, in accordance with the original presidential regulation.

"The assets will be transferred to local administrations, to related ministries and to the public, but we will still have to conduct further evaluation on this," Kuntoro said.

He said BRR operations would be completed by the end of this year, and it would take about four months to wrap up. "The unfinished projects will be continued by the Public Works Ministry or by local government authorities."

Paskah concluded, "The remaining unused grant funds that we received will be allocated for other important projects based on the 2009 state budget."

Aceh and Nias were hit hard by a 9-magnitude earthquake and consequent tsunami on Dec, 26, 2004, leaving 150,000 people killed and many homeless.

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