The central government officially dissolved the post-tsunami Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR) in North Sumatra's Aceh province and Nias Island on Friday as its four-year term came to an end.
To replace it the government has established the Aceh and Nias Reconstruction Coordinating Board (BKRAN), which will continue reconstruction work in areas devastated by the massive 2004 earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
The new agency will come under the jurisdiction of the Aceh and North Sumatra provincial administrations, unlike the BRR, which was overseen directly by the central government.
"Aceh Governor *Irwandy Yusuf* and North Sumatra Governor *Syamsul Arifin* have mandates on their hands to continue or do what has not been done by the BRR, although big projects have fundamentally been completed," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Friday.
"With the same spirit, I'm asking you to continue these tasks," he told a ceremony at the State Palace, held to officially mark the dissolution of the BR.
Irwandy and Syamsul were present at the ceremony, as was BRR Chief Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, senior government officials and representatives from donor countries. Yudhoyono praised the BRR for doing its job "well" in responding to the emergency after the earthquake and tsunami devastated the region on Dec. 26, 2004.
"*The BRR* took three months to carry out its jobs in emergency response *in Aceh and Nias*, while it may have taken dozens of weeks for emergency responses to be completed in other places," he said.The President said the BRR would share its experience in running the massive reconstruction project with the global community at the "Tsunami: Global Lessons Learned" meeting in New York next Friday.
Established in 2005, the BRR managed to built 140,000 houses, 3,600 kilometers of roads, 12 airports or airstrips, 20 seaports, almost 1,500 schools - including training units for 39,000 teachers - more than 1,100 healthcare centers and 987 government buildings, according to data from the agency.
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