Of
A$379.9m total donations, ordinary Aussies gave 72pc, five aid orgs got 86pc
9
March 2006
In Aust dollars, the aid organisations that received were Aust Red Cross $117.8m, World
Vision Australia $110.3m, Care
Australia $45.7m, Oxfam Australia $28.7m, Caritas
Australia $23.4, and the total of all 30 ACFID member aid organisations $379.9m.
Thirty Australia
aid organisations received donations to assist tsunami-hit communities
totalling $273.8m from Australians of all walks of life, many of who had never
contributed to an aid organisation before. This was 72pc of the $379.9m total
tsunami assistance revenue that the Australian aid organisations received. The
rest came from corporate donations, government sources and interest.
The figures were recorded in the
Australian Council For International Development ACFID’s Fourth (Dec 05)
Quarter report tabled to Australian Parliament on 30 March 2006.
The report aimed to demonstrate the transparency and accountability of the non government organisations (NGOs) and others under the ACFID code of ethics and reporting requirements.
By 31 December 05, the 30ACFID-member aid agencies had spent 46 percent (almost half) of the $379 million they received.
The average overhead expense was 3.35pc.
Details (28 March 06):
ACFID's NGO Report on the Asian Tsunami (26 December 2004 to 31 December 2005)
“With more than 200,000 people killed in 10 countries, millions injured, tens of millions left homeless and without livelihoods and whole communities dislocated, the Asian tsunami was the single biggest challenge ever faced by international aid organisations, including non government agencies (NGOs),” said Executive Director Paul O’Callaghan.
In Australian dollars, $325.9m (86pc) went
to the top five aid organisations which are all affiliated with global aid
organisations, while $54m (14pc) went to 25 other Australian aid organisations.
Total revenue was $117.8 million of which $103.4 million (or around 88%) spent or committed to 31 December 2005 in operations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives and Sri Lanka.
Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies: More than $1.7 million affected people received Red Cross assistance (to 31 December 2005). Globally the Red Cross and Red Crescent spent a total of $800 million to 31 December 2005.
Overhead expenses at $3.6m were 3pc.
WVA is an affiliate of World Vision International (WVI), an international Christian humanitarian aid and development organisation.
Total revenue from public and corporate donations, government funding and interest $110,328,003. Highlights: Two years commitment to human resource development and health services reconstruction in Aceh, funding up to $3.7m
Infrastructure spending ($) totaling 771,606 with 13,207 Thailand, 92,333 Sri Lanka, 438,658 India and 27,408 Indonesia.
Overhead expenses at $3,273,277 were
3pc.
A member of the CARE International confederation, Care Australia received total revenue from public and corporate donations, government funding and interest $45,694,846 – assisting more than 728,000 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Somalia.
Overhead expenses at $2,522,409 were 6pc.
Total revenue from public and corporate donations, government funding and interest $28,736,980. Its project highlights are livelihoods in India, spending more than $5.8M to date, and shelter in Sri Lanka $5.6M. For Indonesia, Somalia, Burma and the Maldives, Oxfam Australia works through other Oxfam affiliates. The Oxfam International Tsunami Response has so far assisted over 1,700,000 people.
Overhead expenses at $853,349 were 3pc.
A Catholic agency member of Caritas International: Total revenue from public and corporate donations, government funding and interest $23,433,757. In Indonesia, CA continued to work with two partners, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) to implement shelter, community infrastructure, health, psychosocial, livelihood and community capacity building programs.
Overhead expenses at $920,913 were 4pc
In addition to funds from corporations, government and interest earned, 30 aid organisation members of ACFID received $379.9m.
Public donations $ 273,804,716.59
Corporate donations $73,203,476.35
Government $21,728,312.00
Interest earned $11,177,390.53
Total revenue $379,913,895.47
Disbursements
Program Expenditure
- Funds spent overseas in projects $159,034,797.52
- Funds spent on program support $3,319,482.82
Overhead Expenses $ 12,745,504.93
Total Disbursements $175,099,785.27
Balance (funds avail for programs) $204,814,110.20
Overhead expenses at $12,745,505 averaged 3.35pc across the 30 members.
EndsAceh update: Landing craft make direct shipment of hundreds of
tonnes of building materials possible
Squared logs, rough sawn lumber
and dimensional timber can be taken ashore from ships at anchor by landing
craft like the LCT Daily Express. LCTs are capable of
carrying all of these according to the owner-operator, who wants
to see which NGOs might consider the landing
craft in use with chartered vessels bringing materials for the thousands
of houses to be built in 2006.
(With photos of landing craft - cargo operations.)
The front ramp craft can speed the unloading of ships at anchor, or ferry cargo from ship’s hook to coastal or island points of receiving.
In addition to the prospect of repeat work, Limin wants to see which non-government aid organisations (NGOs) might consider the landing craft in conjunction with chartered vessels bringing materials for the thousands of houses to be built in 2006.
This would be an option to trucking that takes too long, across tortious mountain ranges that limit truck capacity to 10 tonnes - or 20 tonnes at best.
Landing craft make ship loads of hundreds of tonnes possible, despite ports still being inoperable due to berths being gouged out by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunamis.
“Due to no regular liner shipment and rarely any consolidation of cargo between NGOs, the bigger NGOs who have lots of cargo like WFP and Red Cross would time charter vessels,” Limin said.
“The smaller NGOs could go for voyage charters.”
LCT Daily Express (flag Indonesia) is Gross Tonnes 555, length overall (LOA) 53.80m, breadth 12.80m, draft
2.60m, speed 8 knots, built 1981, accommodation 10 persons, horsepower 2 x 400
HP.
LCT Sumber Power (flag Indonesia) has fuel capacity 40 tons, Gross Tonnes 451, length overall (LOA) 40.01m, breadth 14.58m, draft 2.88m, speed 8 knots, built 1999, accommodation 10 persons, horsepower 2 x 400 HP.
Contact details can be seen in www.liminmarine.com along with other details like Limin's operations in tugboats and barges.
Asked whether a ship on charter for NGOs’ building materials should bring its own forklift for use on the landing craft, Limin said it depends on the cargo. “The cargo owner would bring it if the destination needs it."
Limin said: "If we see increase in aid organisations using
the landing craft for voyage charter, we could base her in Belawan." The port for Medan, this is Western Sumatra's central hub for trans-ship cargo including shipping container traffic for Aceh. Many UN and NGO shipping offices are in Medan because its the only port with container terminal
facilities for 20 and
40 footer shipping containers arriving on feeder from international
shipping services through South
East Asia’s hub
ports.
Many containers are
unpacked at Belawan for 10 to 20 tonne loads to be carried by trucks
across mountain roads. A new possibility would be for the landing craft
to move the equivalent of 50 to 60 truck loads per voyage.
Banda Aceh would be the other choice, he said, “because many (conventional) cargoes trans-ship through here”.
Positioning a landing craft from Limin Marine’s base in Batam takes about three days to Belawan and five to six days to Aceh’s northern tip for Banda Aceh.
Limin knows this business well, having operated LCT Sumber Power here as the UN World Food Program (WFP) cargo ferry during the 12 months from February 2005 until mid-January 2006.
This was for goods received ex-hook from ships chartered for the UN’s World Food Program. “We carried an average of 430 MT per voyage of rice, canned sardine fish, instant noodles and cooking oil,” Limin said.
LCT Sumber Power took the transhipped cargo south along the west coast to Calang – also to the islands of Simeulue and Nias. These are the most populated two of the islands off Sumatra which suffered the double disaster of the Boxing Day tsunamis then Easter Monday’s big earthquake.
Limin said the landing craft made three or four voyages a month. The average voyage including loading and discharging time to Calang was five to seven days, depending on the weather. To Simuelue it was about nine to 11 days and Nias was 12 to 14 days.
For unloading the cargo, WFP set up temporary jetties with 20 foot containers. “They filled the containers with rocks to stabilise them,” Limin said. “Dump trucks came on board the LCT and they used manual labour to load and unload the supplies.”
The loading operation took place at Malahayati, the cargo port for Banda Aceh which Dutch Government funding is helping to rebuild.
Ends.
Last week the Indonesian Government's Aceh and Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation agency BRR had to explain why only 16,200 new permanent houses had been built to date. BRR's chief, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, pointed to the lack of available timber.
It was the same reason given for only 235 transitional shelters erected so far of the 16,000 that the Indonesian Government wanted, to take 67,500 Aceh tsunami survivors out of tents.
Kuntoro cited two reasons for the lack of locally logged timber. One was that environmentalists continued to shift between wanting an absolute ban on local logging and restricted permits only. This has caused wide diversion between estimated and actual timber availability.
The other reason cited for timber shortages is alleged commercial inexperience on the part of many aid organisations, with procurement officers unfamiliar in the sourcing of large amounts of timber.
Despite the timber problems, BRR says it
will build 40,000 new permanent houses for Aceh's homeless in 2006 calendar
year. This is with funds Indonesia
is receiving from multilateral sources like Asian Development Bank and bilaterally from the governments of numerous nations.
In addition, BRR expects non-government aid organisations (NGOs) to build almost as many, 38,000 permanent houses, using funds built from the world's massive tsunami relief donations last year.
The 78,000 total compares with an estimated overall need in Aceh of 120,000 permanent houses, which BRR now hopes to be completed by mid-2007.
"We will not use timber from Aceh forests in view of the poor condition of the forests in the region," Kuntoro said. Instead, he is exploring ways to speed up the supply using imported timber and "domestic potentials" - presumably timber from North Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Kuntoro's position about importing timber is at variance with Indonesia's Forestry Minister MS Kaban, who on 2 February re-iterated earlier assertions that Indonesia has sufficient timber for building homes in Aceh.
Kaban cited cost saying: "Imported timber is expensive, around Rp60 million per cubic meter while local timber costs only Rp3 to Rp4 million per cubic meter."
Aceh's timber sourcing problems arise because legally logged timber can't meet the extra demand brought by NGO and world government-funded programs for re-housing Aceh's 600,000 displaced by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunamis.
Local sourcing has seen Kalimantan timber shipments to Nias. Also North Sumatran timber boated along the coast to Aceh - some felled legally but most of it illegal.
North Sumatra loggers are permitted to cut no more than 100,000 cu m in 2006. There is currently a lot of overnight trucking in of illegally-cut logs from the west, into Aceh via Medan.
Kaban down-played environmental concerns that logging all Aceh's needs locally would leave the environment prone to flooding. He said it (the logging) had nothing to do with floods and landslides.
He discounted fears aroused by recent flooding in forest-depleted hills in East Java, saying BRR's Deputy for International and Donor Relations, Heru Prasetyo, agreed with his view: "BRR (will) try to do it by paying attention to the environment," Mr Kaban said. "The process to rehabilitate and reconstruct Aceh would not cause new disasters for the province".
When Heru referred to local resources, his statement was also about cement and aggregate. He said: "House construction in Aceh will need some 750,000 tons of cement, 1.7 million cubic meters of rock and 3 million cubic meters roofing materials".
Ends
Date: 11 Feb 06
Only 235 temporary shelters have been constructed out of the approximately 16,000 transitional dwellings that the Indonesian Government wanted, to take 67,500 Aceh tsunami survivors out of rotting tents.
The UN's International Organisation for Migration (IOM) got the work as a joint project with the International Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent (IFRC).
But the transitional shelters project has struggled to secure legally certified timber, as has the building of permanent houses by other aid organisations and Indonesia's Aceh/Nias Relief and Reconstruction agency, BRR.
Completion of the shelters is now re-scheduled to take six months - the time estimated necessary to complete delivery of timber to locations around Aceh.
London's The Guardian this week cast doubt on the June target (set a month ago). This would be hard to meet, the report said, quoting Arian Ardie - a businessman who has been importing wood into Aceh since the tsunami.
The report also warned timber tenderers to be mindful about the choice of chemical treatment. Some NGOs have found timber impregnated with chemicals that they regard as harmful . Like International Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent (IFRC) coordinator for the temporary shelter program, Lourdes Masing, who said "some inappropriate wood" had been encountered in tenders submitted so far.
Australian Red Cross and American Red Cross are among numerous IFRC member-NGOs sub-contracting to the building - both of transitional units and new permanent houses.
In NGO reports of current housing developments around Banda Aceh, American Red Cross just finished new permanent homes for 130 families. It has a further 230 homes under construction, American Red Cross Tsunami Recovery Program coordinator Dellaphine Rauch-Houekpon said.
At nearby Cot Paya, Baitussalam, American Red Cross completed 44 of the transitional shelter units in the joint project with IOM.
American Red Cross is providing water and sanitation expertise to make the transitional dwellings much more inhabitable than previously.
Ends
Date: 11 Feb 06
Indonesia's Aceh and Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR) is arguing for imported timber because of commercial reality. Aid organisations organising about half of Aceh's intended 120,000 new dwellings in 2006 and 2007 are already sourcing timber offshore. There have been shipments already from Australia, New Zealand, North America and Malaysia.
Last week World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Aceh program coordinator Nana Fitriana Firman claimed that WWF, Oxfam and French-based Primiere Urgent were the biggest non-government aid organisations (NGOs) importing timber into Aceh so far.
But other NGOs are importing it too, including Oxfam Australia, which seems interested in repeating its success achieved in Sri Lanka. Installing local fumigation for age-treatment of imported pine, Oxfam got numerous Australian softwood exporters combine for Australia's biggest timber shipment in the past 12 months - 8,500 cubic metres in containers sent on main route ships, then transhipped to Columbo for Sri Lanka's re-housing needs.
From Banda Aceh, Oxfam Australia's Doug Keatinge said the first 650 cubic metres for Aceh in December were via Medan's container port facilities at Belawan.
New Zealand sourcing has figured in timber imports for rehousing tsunami victims too. An International Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent (IFRC) source in Aceh said there was a 500 cubic metres shipment of NZ Douglas Fir.
IFRC member-NGOs are perhaps the biggest NGO timber importers currently in the pipeline. They need 10,000 cubic metres immediately in a plan requiring 35,000 cubic metres to make houses for 60,000 people around Banda Aceh.
The IFRC project was reviewed last week in a London Financial Times article by Shawn Donnan in Jakarta. Under the headline "Aceh’s shelter project stalls over timber shortage", he wrote that the US$100m project is in danger because of problems in the sourcing of timber.
Donnan's report thanked IFRC's Aceh head of operations, Holger Leipe, for news that a UK-based timber broker is expected to be in Aceh soon to arrange the shipment needed for the new shelters. Most of this is expected to come from Canada.
Apparently the IFRC held two earlier rounds of international tendering for the needed timber, but both rounds failed to find an adequate supplier.
Ends
Date: 11 Feb 06
Here is a preview
of articles in a demonstration Aceh.kno - AC reports in standard text, supporting research in italics.
Note the keywords below each title. With PK Reader, any of these keywords selected from the Knowbase Index quickly filters the articles.
This previews 20
articles, about 10 percent of Aceh.kno's total which consists of
(1) 1st quarter Boxing Day 2004 to Easter 2005, articles on the
Asian tsunami international relief effort
(2) 2nd quarter to July 2005, AC's reports on Aus-NZ Supply
written for Indonesia-Relief.Org about Aceh/Nias
(3) Articles since July 2005.
Contents of Aceh.kno:
01 Supply Page to Speed Local Procurement Processes
02 Reconstruction Supply Efforts Have to Wait on Promised Funds
03 AusTrade: Reaching Indonesian Procurement Partners is Essential
04 Australia Adopt 'Reconstruction Plus' Approach in Aceh
05 Austrade Asks Suppliers to Approach Australian NGOs
06 Coastal Rethink Needed to Bring All Aceh’s Needed Materials
07 Containerised Timber Imports 'A Drop In The Ocean'
08 Cash for Acehnese Workers If Logs Imported
09 NGOs in Aceh Could Procure All Kinds of Materials
10 Petrol-Powered Portable Sawmills a Possibility for Micro-financing
11 More Source Ports Increase NGO Procurement Options
12 Australia Active in Hospital Rebuilding and Job Creation
13 Getting Seamless Container Supply Put Before Aceh Peoples' Needs
14 World Bank Bigger Aid Help NZ’s Supply Chances
Aceh has sufficient local timber a fraction of import cost, says Indonesia's forestry minister
BRR permits bad locations for many of 120,000 houses being built to house 500,000
Timber in containers can't get past Belawan, Medan's port
a. AID/EMERGENCY SUPPLIES (misc), a.Hospitals/medical, a.immediate relief, a.Military logistics, a.Military/engineers,
b. BASIC SERVICES (misc), b.Child protection, b.Health, b.Psycho-social help, b.Quipment (basic services), b.Water/sanitation,
c. CREATING JOBS/INDUSTRY (misc), c.Building/construction jobs, c.Crafts, c.Milling timber or flour, c.Work-for-cash,
d. DWELLINGS/BUILDING (misc), d.Building materials, d.Construction, d.Dwellings, d.Quipment (building), d.Temp building,
e. ECONOMICS, FUNDING, SUPPLY (misc), e.Access (market), e.Funding, e.Microfinance, e.Procurement, e.Supply, e.Ztatistics,
f. FOCAL AREAS (misc), f.Environment, f.Locations,
g. GROUPS - GOV, NGO, etc (misc), g.Aid agency, g.Trading posts,
l. LOGISTICS (misc),
m. MARITIME SHIPPING (misc), m.Ferries,
n. NVOS/FORWARDING AGENTS etc (misc),
p. PORT AND TERMINAL OPS (misc), p.Dredging, p.Services,
t. TEU (container) TRAFFIC (misc), t.Timber in containers,
w. WEIGHT/BREAKBULK SHIPPING (misc), w.Conventional shipping, w.Logs, w.Timber,
Date: 08 5 05
Keywords: "ACEH", 2nd Qtr - Indonesia-Relief articles,
e. ECONOMICS, FUNDING, SUPPLY (misc), e.Supply,
Indonesia-Relief.Org saw the possibility to help speed Aceh and Nias Reconstruction procurement processes, by establishing web pages like Aus-NZ Supply, Asia Supply, American Supply, and many other countries supplies.
All kinds of materials and equipment can be offered here, giving the website’s readers the opportunity to browse what’s shown to be available.
The website’s readership already includes many local NGO procurement officers and others advising and international NGOs and contractors being awarded aid-funded projects.
The idea is to give priority to publicising materials and equipment that corporations of donor nations will hopefully marginally cost, taking an altruistic approach as they did in the many kind donations that took NGOs by surprise, when the world was shocked at seeing the devastation that the Boxing Day tsunamis brought.
Brief articles on the Supply pages will draw readers’ attention to company profile pages with supply capabilities described and website and email addresses given for follow up response. Indonesia-Relief.Org’s fast-gathering local readership will do the rest.
Indonesia-Relief is also proactive with this in Australia, having appointed a Sydney-based trade correspondent in to gather profiles.
Prospective suppliers reading this can be proactive, too, by emailing tradecorrespondent@indonesia-relief.org for the company profile form to fill in. This will start an interview-by-email process for the profiles to be written and publicised free-of-charge for six months initially.
All of the supply pages are located by clicking ''Relief News'' at the top of every page and browsing down the left-side column.
Date: 05 May 05,
http://www.indonesia-relief.org/mod.php?mod=about&op=viewabout&aboutid=13
Date: 01 5 05
Keywords: "ACEH", 2nd Qtr - Indonesia-Relief articles,
e. ECONOMICS, FUNDING, SUPPLY (misc), e.Funding, e.Procurement,
g. GROUPS - GOV, NGO, etc (misc), g.Aid agency,
l. LOGISTICS (misc)
Agency and planning processes could be delaying supplies for rebuilding disaster-hit communities in Aceh and Nias, frustrating the intentions of public and corporate donors who offered money or materials to aid organisations.
As UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs said last week (To Roundtable Association of leading US Ceos): ''United Nations must be proactive in creating an infrastructure for private sector partnerships by identifying points of contact within each agency and company. Humanitarian organizations should also create stand-by arrangements and rosters of available resources, so that the next time a crisis hits, the international community can mobilize immediately.''
Addressing the logistics involved, UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, the former US president Bill Clinton, told the same meeting: ''Companies that could track a package from one end of the globe to another, build subways, skyscrapers and bridges, or coordinate the ‘just-in-time’ delivery of thousands of parts to assembly lines, could certainly provide more ‘people power’ in times of need.''
He also spoke about the delays. ''Relief efforts must first receive promised funds, coordinate and 'build back better', reconstructing communities with improved housing, education and health care.''
Clinton referred to 'relief efforts' but supply efforts also have to wait on promised funds.
Australian and NZ civilian volunteers and military were highly proactive during the relief phase. But since the rebuilding started, industry has had to wait first on Indonesian Government planning, then wait again for the opportunity to offer supply on case-by-case allocation of the promised A$1 billion AusAID funding.
Only a few examples came to light last week. Tasmanian forest products producer Gunns Limited is to supply timber housing to Aceh. New Zealand talked about participation in forestry on Indonesia's eastern islands.
Sydney, Indonesia-Relief -- Date: 28 Apr 05,
http://www.indonesia-relief.org/mod.php?mod=publisher&op=viewarticle&cid=31&artid=796&PHPSESSID=756438d64220a18e2efd17f6e7f53b40#
Date: 08 5 05
Keywords: "ACEH", 2nd Qtr - Indonesia-Relief articles,
c. CREATING JOBS/INDUSTRY (misc), c.Work-for-cash,
g. GROUPS - GOV, NGO, etc (misc), g.Trading posts
Indonesian partners will have the key role in determining which corporations supply what in projects to rebuild Aceh and Nias. Austrade’s speakers to Tsunami Reconstruction Workshops in Australian capital city meetings earlier in April all made this point strongly.
Indonesia’s immediate relief phase saving thousands of tsunami survivors from disease has now passed into the rehabilitation phase. Reconstruction is to be as soon as possible, if the distress of the people is to be relieved.
An urgent need now is to continue the self-help started locally with work-for-cash schemes set up to involve locals in the massive clean up after tsunamis, because this gives the people buying power to pull materials along the supply chain.
Trading posts started around demountable stores that distributed NGOs’ aid can now be used to stock reconstruction materials and equipment. The best ones are those that have established good relations with village elders and needed regard towards local civil and central Indonesian Government processes, including military ones.
The distributing agencies include local NGOs and international ones that intend staying in Indonesia for the rehabilitation and reconstruction. These are ones with funds remaining from tsunami relief appeals or continuing to flow from public and corporate donors keen to keep helping Aceh and Nias. They can decide to order types of materials and equipment that their field people in Aceh can see as giving best value for spending.
Sydney, Indonesia-Relief -- Date: 05 May 05,
http://www.indonesia-relief.org/mod.php?mod=publisher&op=viewarticle&cid=31&artid=848&PHPSESSID=756438d64220a18e2efd17f6e7f53b40
Date: 08 5 05
Keywords: "ACEH", 2nd Qtr - Indonesia-Relief articles,
c. CREATING JOBS/INDUSTRY (misc), c.Building/construction jobs,
d. DWELLINGS/BUILDING (misc), d.Construction,
e. ECONOMICS, FUNDING, SUPPLY (misc), e.Funding, e.Procurement,
f. FOCAL AREAS (misc), f.Environment,
g. GROUPS - GOV, NGO, etc (misc)
Austrade’s recent Tsunami Reconstruction Workshops told would-be Australian suppliers that the Aceh reconstruction agency Bappenas is getting more aid money than the amount estimated necessary for reconstruction. They understood the construction approach is to be a ''reconstruction plus'' approach, for better infrastructure than before.
Indonesia received about $8 billion made up of $1bn US aid, $0.683bn German aid, $0.979bn from the UN flash appeal, $0.7bn from Red Cross/Red Crescent and $0.5bn from more than 150 other NGOs - the Sydney meeting was told.
Paying for the procurement of materials and equipment is budgeted in projects being tendered from government aid pledges, such as AusAID projects allocating Australia’s promised A$1 billion.
Austrade says to expect a lot of fast rehabilitation projects first. These will precede the big five to eight year projects requiring detailed tendering over the next five years.
Dwellings were identified as having the highest priority, both temporary and longer term as a number of NGOs are planning.
These aren’t Australian type housing, the Sydney workshop was told. ''Think 36 sq m without water connected, because they use neighbourhood wells.''
Indonesia wasn’t likely to insist on a Sri Lanka style imposition of a tsunami coastal danger zone, because squatter fisher-folk would be bound to resist it.
The Australians heard that house construction programs would need supplier’s training assistance for locals to be the main labour source. Their employment will help the local economy. ''Village rebuilding will be in locations where employment opportunities are best or can be made better,'' the speakers said. There will be new innovations in civil engineering like wide emergency exit roads and man-made hills placed centrally for tsunami shelters. Some community buildings like mosques may get emergency shelters on top.
Speakers said while local materials would be used where possible, the tsunamis had taken away most of the local sand resources. Rebuilding posed a further threat to the environment. The Indonesian Government backs a tough stand on illegal logging from Aceh’s remaining pristine rain forests.
http://www.indonesia-relief.org/mod.php?mod=publisher&op=viewarticle&cid=31&artid=849&PHPSESSID=756438d64220a18e2efd17f6e7f53b40
Date: 08 5 05
Keywords: "ACEH", 2nd Qtr - Indonesia-Relief articles,
a. AID/EMERGENCY SUPPLIES (misc), a.Hospitals/medical, a.immediate relief, a.Military/engineers,
b. BASIC SERVICES (misc), b.Child protection, b.Health, b.Psycho-social help, b.Water/sanitation,
d. DWELLINGS/BUILDING (misc), d.Quipment (building),
e. ECONOMICS, FUNDING, SUPPLY (misc), e.Procurement,
g. GROUPS - GOV, NGO, etc (misc)
Austrade's Jakarta-based senior trade commissioner (STC) Rod Morehouse was strong on approaching the aid organisations about procurement. ''Don’t forget the NGOs who apart from the military were the mainstay of relief efforts,'' he advised prospective Australian suppliers at the workshop. ''A number are looking to continue into the reconstruction phase.''
His Powerpoint presentation hinted to the audience which NGOs might be worth approaching first.
The Australia Government gave A$12m in relief phase aid to Australian and local non-government organisations working in tsunami-affected countries.
Australian Red Cross got help to carry out field assessments in Sri Lanka and to send a logistician and a water and sanitation coordinator to Indonesia.
International Federation of the Red Cross had support for activities in emergency relief such as the delivery of food and other items, health, water and sanitation, and to provide basic shelter, care and education for unaccompanied children especially in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India and the Maldives.
Oxfam Community Aid Abroad was assisted to provide clean water and sanitation facilities for the worst affected areas of Sri Lanka.
World Vision got funding to distribute dry food baskets of rice, oil, tea, salt and a blanket, clothing, cooking sets and tents for 150,000 people in Sri Lanka, and to distribute similar immediate relief items to 40,000 families in Banda Aceh.
Australian Foundation for the Peoples of Asia and the Pacific were assisted for providing Psycho-social help - trauma counselling, conducting needs assessments for villages in Sri Lanka and for obtaining chain saws and a walk-about sawmill to process downed trees and other wood wreckage for shelter/housing material.
Care Australia had help to distribute emergency relief kits, including food, water, clothing and kitchen items, to 35,000 survivors in Sri Lanka and distribute safe water systems in Indonesia. Also to provide water purification tablets in India and help community recovery and rehabilitation in Thailand.
Save the Children Fund were given funds to provide food aid for 10,000 of the worst hit families in Aceh for 30 days, to supply basic medical supply kits and support 35 health clinics with equipment within the districts of Peidi, Simeulue, Banda Aceh, Aceh Besar and Bireuen.
Christian Children's Fund received assistance to set up child-cantered spaces for about 6,000 children aged between 6-12 years in internally displaced people camps in the districts of Aceh Pidie, Bireuen, North Aceh and Meulaboh.
The surf enthusiast doctors group SurfAid had support from AusAID in aid delivery to Nias and other Simeulue region island communities - which were further hit in Easter Monday earthquakes.
For Aceh's clean up preceding reconstruction, AusAID provided 15 engineers and logistics experts to United Nations organisations, such as the World Food Programme, to help to set up refugee camps, telecommunications, and water and sanitation systems. AusAID's ongoing support includes attention to public health, to stop further deaths from disease outbreaks.
http://www.indonesia-relief.org/mod.php?mod=publisher&op=viewarticle&cid=31&artid=850&PHPSESSID=00c0033b6ab6cc167ffde730576b1835
Date: 08 5 05
Keywords: "ACEH", 2nd Qtr - Indonesia-Relief articles,
a. AID/EMERGENCY SUPPLIES (misc), a.Military logistics, e.Supply,
g. GROUPS - GOV, NGO, etc (misc), g.Aid agency,
l. LOGISTICS (misc),
m. MARITIME SHIPPING (misc),
p. PORT AND TERMINAL OPS (misc), p.Dredging, p.Services,
w. WEIGHT/BREAKBULK SHIPPING (misc), w.Conventional shipping, w.Timber
How is the supply chain likely to be performed, when Aceh has neither the highways nor a coastal feeder system to dovetail with world containerised supply chains?
Medan remains the centre for UN logistics having been the base for Australian and other foreign military assistance during tsunami emergency relief.
Further north, Aceh’s coasts have no scheduled liner freighter services - just scores of small boats and ferries, mostly wooden, serving both passenger and small freight needs.
Small freight is what the containerised world knows as LCL, less than full container loads. It’s loaded in cargo nets and on hooks from swing booms. If there is any unitisation, it’s with pre-slung packs like packs of timber and with pallets - but there is no systematic pallet exchange. It requires breakbulk ships.
These are conditions with which Australian and New Zealand traders are familiar. The logistics are like Darwin supplying Torres Strait island communities, or Auckland supplying Tonga, Cook Islands and other population centres on Polynesian islands. Also, the likes of Norfolk Island from Sydney and Napier (NZ), Chatham Islands from Lyttleton (Christchurch NZ) and Lord Howe Island supplied from Yamba (NSW).
Conventional small self-geared freighters and side door or stern-ramp ROROs (roll-on roll-off ships) thrive best in this situations, where the small freight is mostly building materials, equipment, groceries, beer and food supplies, personal effects and motor cars. Landing ramp ships (landing carriers, LCs) are a possibility but harder to come by above 1,000 tonnes DWT.
The ships often called “island traders” operate regularly scheduled shipping services on rotations, each making 10 to 20 round trips a year depending on the route. They are quite different from coastal container feeder ships. A typical one is about 80m LOA (length over all), has two holds and twin hatches, tween decks with refrigerated holds, and gear like two 10-tonne cranes or derricks or container-capable 20 tonners.
A dedicated island freighter service like this out of a selected Australian port (perhaps Port Kembla) and NZ port (perhaps Tauranga) could deliver needed timber and other building material supplies directly to west coast points near Banda Aceh and Meulaboh.
This would probably be much more efficient than goods being unpacked from containers in Medan onto mountain trucks. It would certainly be better for wide-dimension material and equipment too heavy for road movement and too expensive for air freight.
A 2,000 tonne-deadweight freighter doing 15 trips a year would deliver between 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes a year - that’s about half of the annual supply for another well established long distance - Auckland to Cook Islands (getting near Tahiti).
Could Aceh’s string of coastal communities also be served, if a coastal shipping freight transfer facility got established centrally - say in Meulaboh?
Certainly, Singaporean aid organisations thought back in January, when they proposed a floating barge pier at Meulaboh's port. Singaporean and Indonesian heads of state agreed on the idea in February, but it got abandoned apparently due water depth too shallow to take the draft of ocean going container feeder ships.
What about dredging for a floating pier that will moor shallower draft island freighters using ship’s gear to load small freight onto landing barges and small boats alongside able to ply goods to many jetty ports or beach heads along the coast?
Explanatory note for Aus and NZ readers:
Right now most dependence is being put on strengthening the east-west road haul route across the mountains from Medan, while USAID is currently concentrating on the design and building of bridges and highway needed on the sea-invaded west coast road between the two biggest population centres. (These are Meulaboh in the middle and Banda Aceh at the northern tip of AcehProvince.)
Across the border south from Aceh and on the east coast, Medan is the nearest port currently capable of receiving shipping containers, transhipped in by feeder ships going to/from the region’s main container ports.
The mountain routes have many parts damaged by the force nine earthquakes which crumpled the road seal and destroyed most bridges - short-term replaced with extendable steel structured (Bailey) bridges. Many razor back bends limit the truck/lorry size to 10 tons deadweight, just recently extended to 20 tons as far as Meulaboh. This means containerised imports coming through Medan like the 10 shipping containers of Australian and US treated timber announced last week will have to be unpacked for trucking.©alan
http://www.indonesia-relief.org/mod.php?mod=publisher&op=viewarticle&cid=31&artid=851&PHPSESSID=00c0033b6ab6cc167ffde730576b1835
Date: 08 5 05
Keywords: "ACEH", 2nd Qtr - Indonesia-Relief articles,
d. DWELLINGS/BUILDING (misc), d.Building materials, d.Temp building, e.Ztatistics,
g. GROUPS - GOV, NGO, etc (misc),
m. MARITIME SHIPPING (misc),
t. TEU (container) TRAFFIC (misc), t.Timber in containers
The 10 shipping containers of treated timber announced by Australia's National Forest Industry Association and its US counterpart totals up to 300 cu m if 20 footer containers or 600 cubic metres, if fully using the space of a 40 footer container.
Either way it's 'a drop in the ocean' compared with WWF's Preliminary Assessment of Timber Requirements for Aceh's Reconstruction.
The WWF report said typical local dwellings of just 36 sq m each required five to six cubic metres of sawn timber. If 500,000 such houses (called Rs-S2 type) are to be built, this will need 2.5m to 3m cubic metres, requiring some 6.25 to 7.5m cubic metres of logs.
Fifty thousand cubic metres of timber from Aceh's own production forests is legally available immediately. This timber was permitted to be logged in 2004 but was never harvested. However, this volume would only be sufficient to allow the building of 1,000 temporary barracks or rebuilding of Aceh's fishing fleet, the report said.
WFF recommended imported, ''sustainably produced'' timber be used instead, to avoid the ''opportunistic'' practices that could occur with local logs.
It said this imported timber could be supplied free as in-kind assistance by donor states, with its value being deducted from the total aid commitment made, or by global corporations involved in the trade of such timber.
The Indonesian Government was advised the flow of imported timber could be seen to through local and international NGOs.
Barracks for temporary accommodation were expected to need another 12,500 to 15,000 cubic metres of timber. The expected 1,000 50-person barracks would use up 31,250 to 37,500 cubic metres of logs.
A further 81,675 to 108,540 cubic metres of sawn timber was estimated necessary for the reconstruction of concrete-framed offices, hospitals, and houses of worship. © alan
http://www.indonesia-relief.org/mod.php?mod=publisher&op=viewarticle&cid=31&artid=860&PHPSESSID=1f64b6a8cdc9637aee3ede989708d22d
Date: 15 5 05
Keywords: "ACEH", 2nd Qtr - Indonesia-Relief articles,
c. CREATING JOBS/INDUSTRY (misc), c.Work-for-cash,
d. DWELLINGS/BUILDING (misc), d.Building materials, d.Quipment (building),
f. FOCAL AREAS (misc), f.Environment,
m. MARITIME SHIPPING (misc),
w. WEIGHT/BREAKBULK SHIPPING (misc), w.Logs
Logs landed ashore for local sawmilling offer much-needed extra timber for Aceh and Nias rebuilding and also work-for-cash opportunities for the local people, giving them the means to buy building materials for themselves sooner.
Given its own commercial scale saw milling plants, local timber yards could mill the logs which would provide cash to workers to purchase what they need, rather than keep waiting for it to be given.
This is the best suggestion to come from reader interest in last week's article ''Coastal Rethink needed to bring all Aceh's needed materials''.
The possibility of import sourcing logs for local milling was first raised by environmental groups in March, who pushed for logs to be imported from Australia or elsewhere to head off environment fears of an upsurge in timber milled from Indonesia's protected rain forests.
But timber started arriving in Aceh anyway, by the boatload from down the coast, as Sumatran traders responded to the 20 percent rise in prices caused by Aceh’s critical demand.
The import-sourcing debate raged on, however, no news came out about any price quote for imported logs, or any aid funded package to offset shipping costs that might make the import alternative viable.
Logs ships have even less need for cargo infrastructure than the ships mentioned in ''Coastal Rethink'', because logs can be lowered from ships offshore at anchor and be floated ashore.
If Indonesia wants, Australian and NZ forest sector exporters can start log supplies immediately that the local saw milling capacity is ready.
It doesn't matter to the ''Coastal Rethink'' idea if logs or timber, or both, make the base cargo for the direct supply of reconstruction materials and equipment.
The companies trading in both have long experience in ship types chartered, including those most suitable loading and carrying conventional cargo - like crates of Japanese made cars and car parts once moved in large numbers in log ships on return voyages to NZ. © alan
http://www.indonesia-relief.org/mod.php?mod=publisher&op=viewarticle&cid=33&artid=936
Date: 15 5 05
Keywords: "ACEH", 2nd Qtr - Indonesia-Relief articles,
a. AID/EMERGENCY SUPPLIES (misc),a.Military logistics, a.Military/engineers,
d. DWELLINGS/BUILDING (misc), d.Building materials,
g. GROUPS - GOV, NGO, etc (misc),
m. MARITIME SHIPPING (misc),
p. PORT AND TERMINAL OPS (misc), p.Services
Shipping-in direct could speed NGO’s procurement of all kinds of building materials and equipment to offer to Acehnese, if crates of equipment and other conventional cargo can be included in the log ship loads.
The deliveries don’t have to wait for new port infrastructure, if the ship has its own gear for transferring cargo at anchor in the bay.
Or, alternatively, port services using landing craft operation using ramp-landing capability - like the Australian ship that already landed machinery earlier this year
Australia’s naval supply ship HMAS Kanimbla didn’t just bring medical equipment and supplies to Banda Aceh. The amphibious landing ship also helped the emergency relief effort by landing military/engineers machinery - 10 4WD Unimog Trucks, six Mack trucks (including three dump trucks), four bulldozers, three front end loaders, one excavator, one mobile crane, ten Land Rovers, one ambulance, two maintenance repair vehicles, and some construction supplies.
Totalling 780 ton, that’s less than a third of what even a small freight ship or logger could bring. It’s even smaller compared with what 30 trips a year could bring, either from a scheduled small freighter or by back-to-back log ship voyage charters. © alan
http://www.indonesia-relief.org/mod.php?mod=publisher&op=viewarticle&cid=33&artid=937
Date: 16 5 05
Keywords: "ACEH", 2nd Qtr - Indonesia-Relief articles,
c. CREATING JOBS/INDUSTRY (misc), c.Crafts, c.Milling timber or flour,
d. DWELLINGS/BUILDING (misc), d.Dwellings,
e. ECONOMICS, FUNDING, SUPPLY (misc), e.Microfinance
A nation based on agriculture and forest sector exports all over the world, New Zealand has engineered a variety of equipment for forestry purposes - including petrol-powered portable sawmills that could be an opportunity for NGOs to microfinance to Acehnese tradesmen, making a new crafts business for creating jobs and contributing to dwellings construction.
For non-NGO readers, micro-finance involves an NGO like Opportunity International which creates donor-sourced funds in places where a local committee lends it at fair interest rate loans to get many small business traders started. Sewing machines are financed to help women into the garment trade. Small petrol-powered saw mills are just one in many other possibilities to help create employment opportunities in small new businesses.
The profiled supplier, Peterson Portable Sawmills, has made and sold more than 1,000 units since starting production in 1977. The range includes an All Terrain portable saw milling machine suitable for milling timber locally - ''with reliable Honda 4 stroke motor and unique cutting technology so the operator can easily cut 2 - 4 cm ( 900 - 1800 BFT ) per day.''
''A single operator can cut double width boards without turning the mill around. Drop down sizing can be affected without walking the length of the mill.''
#http://www.indonesia-relief.org/mod.php?mod=publisher&op=viewarticle&cid=31&artid=938
More details in Indonesia-Relief.Org's Suppliers’ Profiles - click from page top right.
Date: 15 5 05
Keywords: "ACEH", 2nd Qtr - Indonesia-Relief articles,
d. DWELLINGS/BUILDING (misc), d.Building materials, d.Quipment (building),
w. WEIGHT/BREAKBULK SHIPPING (misc), w.Conventional shipping, w.Logs
Carrying general cargo by conventional shipping methods (on pallets or re-slung crates) could give more efficient delivery than packing a container, roading it to a hub port, then by big containership to a SE Asia hub port, then transhipping to Medan, unpacking the container for mountain truck delivery to Aceh, etc.
Making the price delivered at Aceh’s west coast cheaper because of no transhipping adds import possibilities for building equipment and building materials produced near log loading ports. In NZ’s North Island, this means Taranaki and Gisborne in addition to Tauranga, Wellington, and Auckland.
Only last month (12 April), Port of Taranaki (POT) praised another profiled company (Pentarch), saying its plans for radiata pine plantations in the south hinterland around Wanganui and east of Inglewood would add 1,000 cubic metres of logs a week through its port. Last year Taranaki exported about 45,000 cubic metres in log shipments.
Pentarch is also big on the other side of NZ’s North Island in Gisborne, having the sole marketing and exporting for a large pine plantation since 2002.
This is the same company which Aus-NZ Supply reported last week as awaiting Indonesia’s reply to offering logs supply into Aceh. Pentarch Forest Products has nine years experience in supplying Indonesia already and has current dealings including with Kertas Kraft Aceh (KKA).
From initial shipments to Korea in 1993, this Australian company formerly called Radiata Exports expanded over 10 years to supplying ship loads to customers in Japan, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, India and the United Arab Emirates.
The large trade prompted Pentarch to source NZ logs too, by entering a joint venture with NZ Wood Markets Ltd, whose directors are now directors of Pentarch’s New Zealand company.
Pentarch completed so many shipments (more than 270 in 10 years), that it decided to set up its own charter shipping company called Stratus Shipping, based in Melbourne.
As Stratus Shipping notes on its web page: ''Although Stratus Shipping was formed to facilitate the export of forestry products from Australia, it now has the intention to expand its horizons and to offer its services in the niche between container traffic and large bulk cargoes.'' © alan
relief.org/mod.php?mod=publisher&op=viewarticle&cid=33&artid=939
More details in Indonesia-Relief.Org's Suppliers’ Profiles - click from page top right.
Date: 23 5 05
Keywords: "ACEH", 2nd Qtr - Indonesia-Relief articles,
b. BASIC SERVICES (misc), b.Water/sanitation,
c. CREATING JOBS/INDUSTRY (misc),
d. DWELLINGS/BUILDING (misc),
e. ECONOMICS, FUNDING, SUPPLY (misc), e.Funding,
g. GROUPS - GOV, NGO, etc (misc), g.Aid agency,
m. MARITIME SHIPPING (misc), m.Ferries,
p. PORT AND TERMINAL OPS (misc)
Australia’s trade commissioners (Austrade) ran seminars on Australian supply in Jakarta and Medan last week, during which new Australian initiatives in Aceh’s building and reconstruction were announced. The chances for more announcements soon improved on news that Indonesia’s Aceh Rehabilitation and Reconstruction has US$1.2 billion in foreign aid funds (half of it from Red Cross/Red Crescent) ready to be spent. Announcing this on Thursday, the agency’s chief Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said the agency is to get US$5 billion altogether ($1 = 9,450 rupiah).
The Australian Government, in partnership with Indonesia and Germany, will further progress the reconstruction of the Zainoel Abidin hospital in Banda Aceh, severely damaged in the Boxing Day tsunami, the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Bruce Billson, announced on Friday.
Australia's emergency focus was on Banda Aceh, but it's also now also contributing in Meulaboh where US and Singaporean army engineers first helped. The UNDP, Australia and the Netherlands governments are to fund an employment centre with a database of Acehnese people skilled for reconstruction work, for creating jobs. This was started earlier by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Indonesian Government. In Banda Aceh the centre placed almost 400 people in temporary or fixed work, and then expanded its database to about 10,000 after extending to Meulaboh. Lhok Seumawe will follow later this month.
The Netherlands commitment to helping Indonesia has possible opportunities for Australian suppliers, too. Netherlands is focussing on 14 projects, including the construction of (Banda Aceh’s) Malahayati port, the supply of clean water and the establishment of mobile banking units. “For the construction of the port, the project is set to be settled within six months,” the Netherlands Embassy in Jakarta confirmed last week.
From its strong base operations in nearby Australia and with container port operations already in Indonesia, P&O Ports could offer for this development for which the Netherlands Government has committed eight million euros. And P&O has strong Dutch connections through P&O Nedlloyd.
Through established Indonesian connections, Australia’s other main stevedores Patrick Corporation and Toll Group could also look at the possibility, especially if Indonesia's plans for Malahayati extend to making it the province's hub port, suggesting possibilities for conventional or RoRo (roll on-roll off) ferry ship connections to Meulaboh and smaller ports.
The Netherlands first started at the ports helping the reconstruction effort in February/March, when Royal Netherlands Army engineers brought in two consignments of NATO (Bailey type) for TNI to receive at the quay side. © alan
http://www.indonesia-relief.org/mod.php?mod=publisher&op=viewarticle&cid=31&artid=977
Date: 23 5 05
Keywords: "ACEH", 2nd Qtr - Indonesia-Relief articles,
b. BASIC SERVICES (misc), b.Water/sanitation,
e. ECONOMICS, FUNDING, SUPPLY (misc), e.Access (market),
f. FOCAL AREAS (misc), f.Locations,
m. MARITIME SHIPPING (misc),
n. NVOS/FORWARDING AGENTS etc (misc),
p. PORT AND TERMINAL OPS (misc),
w. WEIGHT/BREAKBULK SHIPPING (misc), w.Conventional shipping
Aceh's slow pace of reconstruction continues to be blamed on ports that can't yet take containers. ''That's holding up the bringing of a lot of equipment and supplies that might be required for certainly major infrastructure,'' Tsunami Working Group for World Vision Australia manager, Paul Nichols, told Australia's ABC last Tuesday.
The interviewer didn’t ask him the obvious question: Why aren't suppliers talking to agents for ships that can unload cargo the conventional ship way from before containerisation?
Waiting for Aceh's ports to get straddle carriers and hard stand areas needed for shipping containers seems like putting the desire for seamless containerised supply ahead of the immediate needs of destitute people.
Nichols told the ABC virtually that no work had begun on basic services in the major infrastructure area of roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, health centres and cited some other usual reasons for delay - waiting for the economic master plan to be released in English, land access and ownership issues and people's resistance to being relocated.
He didn’t specify a reason given last week by others - the delay in forming Aceh Rehabilitation and Reconstruction now headed by Kuntoro Mangkusubroto.
Also last week, two senior Indonesian ministers investigated on site the problem of clearing a backlog of hundreds of containers of tsunami relief supplies sitting idle at Medan’s port (Belawan). About 1,500 20 footer containers, almost a third of all the aid consigned through the Medan sea-road interchange, still remained stuck at the port, transhipped there since January from S E Asia’s hub container ports.
Beverages maker Diageo’s Australian business was particularly disappointed about its generous, speedily despatched eight container loads of bottled drinking water still not moved.
The biggest problem appears to be in import clearance, with container consignees are not picking up their goods after they have been cleared, UN’s Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC) reported it its bulletin last week “Currently there are 1,458 containers at the port, of which 853 has been cleared but not yet retrieved by consignees.” UNJLC suggested cargo consignees should hire customs clearing and forwarding agents for all the remaining containers.
The UNJLC bulletin also detailed procedures for clearing goods Customs classified as Restricted (new and used vehicles) and Exception (garbage trucks, ambulances and cargo trucks).
Belawan received 4,351 shipping containers since the emergency started, clearing 86 percent of them (3,746) - as Indonesia-Relief reported last week. © alan
http://www.indonesia-relief.org/mod.php?mod=publisher&op=viewarticle&cid=31&artid=978
Date: 23 5 05
Keywords: "ACEH", 2nd Qtr - Indonesia-Relief articles,
e. ECONOMICS, FUNDING, SUPPLY (misc), e.Funding,
g. GROUPS - GOV, NGO, etc (misc)
International projects for NZ businesses are expected to follow after a trade commissioner from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) was appointed as Private Sector Liaison Officer (PSLO) to the World Bank Group.
Earthquake management is one area in which NZ excels, so the man appointed will be looking to help with the reconstruction work of Asian countries affected by the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami. He is Graham Smeaton who can be contacted on 64 4 910 4300, or email graham.smeaton@nzte.govt.nz
The appointment’s significance was explained by the Paris-based World Bank-Vice Presidency for Europe. ''The PSLO concept started six years ago (1999) when we saw there was a need for the World Bank Group to better engage the business community in its fight against poverty,'' said Enterprise Outreach Services manager, Gilles Garcia.
''A network was created of businesses working together with the World Bank. About 30 countries have joined the PSLO network and we should have 40 by June 2005.''
He said the bank has always had contacts with business organisations in New Zealand ''but with Graham Smeaton as the PSLO, we will be able to build a relationship with one person.'' The World Bank currently procures about NZ$40 million worth of consultancy services and goods from NZ companies.
World Bank managed Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) agreed to provide $250 million for four concept projects, including two years construction of 20,000 houses, rehabilitation of 30,000 houses damaged by tsunami, rehabilitation of communities infrastructure in 200 sub-district (about 3,000 villages), re-capitalization of 6,000 small business, as well as reconstruction of road and bridges, schools, water supplies facilities, public building, and rice fields irrigation system - as Indonesia-Relief reported last week.
NZ Government-funded supply chances are also looking better after announcement last week that NZ’s bilateral programmes with Indonesia will be strengthened. The announcement came with the NZ Government's Budget for 2005-06 fiscal period, which increased the allocation for overseas aid spending by 21 percent and gave an extra NZ$15 million for disaster and emergency relief over the coming three years.
The OECD acknowledged NZ’s attention to poverty alleviation. ''Last month the OECD reported that New Zealand's refocusing of aid delivery has paid off,'' said NZ's associate Foreign Affairs minister, Hon Marian Hobbs. ''NZAID, our international aid and development agency, is now acknowledged as leading global good practice in areas like trade and development, and with programmes designed to make a significant impact on reducing poverty''.
Meanwhile in Australia, not-for-profit activist organisation Aid Watch criticised the Australian Budget issued the previous week for not even mentioning poverty alleviation. ''The Australian aid program is now firmly focused on funding top-down law and justice programs,'' said Aid Watch - whose charter is work to ensure aid-funding reaches the right people, communities and their environments. © alan n
http://www.indonesia-relief.org/mod.php?mod=publisher&op=viewarticle&cid=31&artid=979
Date: 03 2 06
Keywords: "ACEH",
d. DWELLINGS/BUILDING (misc), d.Building materials,
f. FOCAL AREAS (misc), f.Environment,
w. WEIGHT/BREAKBULK SHIPPING (misc), w.Timber
Feb 02 11:29
http://www.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=8607
RI has Sufficient Timber for Building Homes in Aceh
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia has sufficient timber for building homes in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, thus it would not be necessary to import the material, Forestry Minister MS Kaban said here, Wednesday.
"Timber from the production forest in Aceh is sufficient to meet the need for house construction (in Aceh)," Kaban said after a plenary session to review law no.41/1999 on forestry at the Constitutional Court building here.
Kaban said, the Aceh Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) should not import timber for house construction in the tsunami-devastated province because domestic supply is adequate.
"Imported timber is expensive, around Rp60 million per cubic meter while local timber cost only Rp3 to Rp4 million per cubic meter," Kaban said.
In addition, the use of local timber from Aceh forests would not spark another disaster as feared by some non governmental organizations, because the logs would be taken from production forests.
"It has nothing to do with floods and landslides, because the timber will be taken from production forests," the minister asserted.
Previously, BRR Deputy for International and Donor Relations, Heru Prasetyo said, the process to rehabilitate and reconstruct Aceh would not cause new disasters for the province.
"All activities linked to Aceh rehabilitation and reconstruction process will be made without causing another disaster like floods. BRR try to do it by paying attention to the environment," he said.
Among the issues that had been under the spotlight of environmental activits regarding to Aceh reconstruction include raw materials for house construction, including timber, sand and cement.
"House construction in Aceh will need some 750,000 tons of cement, 1.7 million cubic meters of rock, and 3 million cubic meters roofing materials. Not to mention imber. So, it is normal if they question the origin of the those materials," Heru said.(*)
