OMEN
03-29-2006, 12:47 AM
About 10,000 houses built by aid agencies for Indonesian tsunami victims are unfit for human habitation – and may have to be rebuilt.
New Zealand aid agencies have been told by Indonesian officials that some new houses in Aceh are substandard, and have no running water, sewage or wastewater outlets.
Heru Prasetyo, a director at BRR, the agency in charge of rebuilding Aceh province and nearby Nias Island, revealed the housing problems during a visit to Wellington this week.
Mr Prasetyo headed a delegation to thank the New Zealand Government and local aid agencies for their contribution to the aid recovery programme.
New Zealand gave $97 million in aid for the Boxing Day tsunami victims, including $26 million in public donations, which was distributed to several charities.
More than 300,000 people in Aceh province lost their homes in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, which killed more than 100,000.
A second tsunami three months later killed 900 people on Nias and displaced 13,500.
Mr Prasetyo would not say which agencies were responsible for the faulty houses, but did say many were involved.
BRR figures showed progress had been slower than expected, with just 16,000 of the 120,000 houses planned for Aceh and Nias having been completed. A further 13,000 were under construction.
It had been hoped some buildings could be salvaged, but that now seemed unlikely, meaning the houses would have to be rebuilt, he said.
BRR has taken responsibility for quality control and had introduced minimum housing standards. Organisations that failed to meet standards or deliver on their promises had been threatened with expulsion.
New Zealander Kevin Duignan, an International Red Cross construction project coordinator in Aceh, said he was aware of "unacceptable" replacement houses lying empty.
But lack of sanitation was not the only reason for the houses being abandoned, he said.
Some had been built without consulting with locals, others had been built with untreated timbers and had already been "eaten out" by termites.
The Red Cross was committed to building 22,500 houses, which would have sanitation and running water if approved by its Geneva-based headquarters and BRR, Mr Duignan said.
Oxfam spokeswoman Prue Smith said "in the initial rush" there had been issues with trying to meet people's demands for immediate housing and the need to plan.
http://stuff.co.nz/inl/images/masthead/dominionpost.gif
New Zealand aid agencies have been told by Indonesian officials that some new houses in Aceh are substandard, and have no running water, sewage or wastewater outlets.
Heru Prasetyo, a director at BRR, the agency in charge of rebuilding Aceh province and nearby Nias Island, revealed the housing problems during a visit to Wellington this week.
Mr Prasetyo headed a delegation to thank the New Zealand Government and local aid agencies for their contribution to the aid recovery programme.
New Zealand gave $97 million in aid for the Boxing Day tsunami victims, including $26 million in public donations, which was distributed to several charities.
More than 300,000 people in Aceh province lost their homes in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, which killed more than 100,000.
A second tsunami three months later killed 900 people on Nias and displaced 13,500.
Mr Prasetyo would not say which agencies were responsible for the faulty houses, but did say many were involved.
BRR figures showed progress had been slower than expected, with just 16,000 of the 120,000 houses planned for Aceh and Nias having been completed. A further 13,000 were under construction.
It had been hoped some buildings could be salvaged, but that now seemed unlikely, meaning the houses would have to be rebuilt, he said.
BRR has taken responsibility for quality control and had introduced minimum housing standards. Organisations that failed to meet standards or deliver on their promises had been threatened with expulsion.
New Zealander Kevin Duignan, an International Red Cross construction project coordinator in Aceh, said he was aware of "unacceptable" replacement houses lying empty.
But lack of sanitation was not the only reason for the houses being abandoned, he said.
Some had been built without consulting with locals, others had been built with untreated timbers and had already been "eaten out" by termites.
The Red Cross was committed to building 22,500 houses, which would have sanitation and running water if approved by its Geneva-based headquarters and BRR, Mr Duignan said.
Oxfam spokeswoman Prue Smith said "in the initial rush" there had been issues with trying to meet people's demands for immediate housing and the need to plan.
http://stuff.co.nz/inl/images/masthead/dominionpost.gif