working paper infid 2008 = usaid vs kuala bubon

8/14/2019 Working Paper INFID 2008 = USAID vs Kuala Bubon

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NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations

WorkingPaperNo.4,

2008

WE ARE BABY TURTLES,

WHO HAVE TO BE CLOSE TO THE SEA:

Research Team:George Junus Aditjondro

Eddy Purwanto

HOW LOCAL OWNERSHIP IS UNDERMINED BY DONORS

A Case Study of Tsunami Victims,Whose Resettlement Rights are Threatened

by a USAID-financed Highwayin Aceh, Northern Sumatera, Indonesia


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- ii -

WE ARE BABY TURTLES,

WHO HAVE TO BE CLOSE TO THE SEA:HOW LOCAL OWNERSHIP IS UNDERMINED BY DONORS

A Case Study of Tsunami Victims,Whose Resettlement Rights are Threatened

by a USAID-financed Highwayin Aceh, Northern Sumatera, Indonesia

Research Team:George Junus Aditjondro

Eddy Purwanto

Working Paper No.4, 2008


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CONTENT

Acknowledgment i

HowLocalOwnershipisUnderminedbyDonors ii

Introduction: 1

ResearchMethodology: 4

ResearchFindings: 10

Conclusions: 16

Recommendations: 18

Bibliography: 19


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- i -

Acknowledgment

ThestudywasfullyfinancedbyYAKKUMEmergencyUnit(YEU),aprominent

organizationworkingindisastermanagementandpreventioninIndonesia.YEU

isamember

of

ACT

(Action

by

Church

Together).

YEU

has

extensive

works

in

disaster areas,both naturaldisasters and humantriggereddisasters (conflicts)

suchasinthetsunamiandearthquakedevastatedregionofAcehandNias,the

disaster areas of Yogyakarta and Central Java, interreligious conflicts in

CentralSulawesiandMaluku,andinotherareasinIndonesia.YEUisalsotaking

partinsupportinghumanitarianaidinthecyclonedevastatedareasinBurma.

Grateful thanks toDr.GeorgeJunusAditjondroandMr.EddyPurwantowho

didtheresearchinthefieldsandinthelibrariesandnewspapersofficesinAceh

and

Yogyakarta.

Special

thanks

to

Dr.

Sigit

Widjajanto,

the

director

of

YAKKUM,

who is persistently doing advocacy for the rights of people in Kuala Bubon

althoughheknowsthatheischallengingtheglobalgiant.

Thanks toRebeccaYoung from the PresbyterianChurchJakartawho did the

EnglisheditingofthereportandtoMr.SuwarnoatINFIDwhomadethepaper

intothisform.


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- ii -

HOWLOCALOWNERSHIPISUNDERMINEDBYDONORS

Thefollowingcaseistrulyanexampleofhowownershipisunderminedwhenit

comes to its implementationat local level,where the lifeand livelihoodof the

grassrootspeopleareconcerned,wherethepeoplesdignityisthreatened,where

all the desperate efforts of the people to restore their life and livelihood are

underminedbythedonorsandthegovernment.

The reconstruction of the village ofKuala Bubon inAcehwas an example of

what theparticipatorydevelopmentpractitionersarealwaysdreamingof: fully

participationofthecommunitymembersfromplanning,physicalreconstruction

design, environmental considerations, participatory implementation and

participatorymanagement,womenparticipationandleadershipandtherespect

tothe

childrens

rights.

It

was

not

an

easy

task,

of

course.

Even

when

the

humanitarian agencies came to offer the support to the community, the

communityasked to theagencieswhether theirdesignswere in linewithwhat

the people expected. The community members elected the agency through a

ballotboxmechanismfacilitatedbyUNOCHA,afterapresentationofdesignsof

programsbytheagencies.YEU(YAKKUMEmergencyUnit)wastheoneelected

by majority of the community members to facilitate the whole process of

reconstructionandalongtermcommunitydevelopmentplans.

The

village

of

Kuala

Bubon

that

was

totally

devastated

by

tsunami

in

December

2006 is now in place. They people are happy with the results of the

reconstruction; the results of their own efforts.The sense of ownership of the

wholeprocessand results isvery strongand thepeopleofKualaBubonhave

enjoyedlivinginthehousestheyplanandtheybuildtogetherinthecommunity.

Thestudyshowshowthedonorpersistentlypushedthepeopletorelocateand

howthedonordoesnotrespecttherightsofthelocalcommunities.Thoughitis

agrantforthesurvivorsoftsunamiinAceh,itdoesnotmeanthattherightsof

thesurvivorscanbeunderminedandtheirvoicescanbeignored.

The case study also proves what Naomi Klein said in her book The Shock

Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism that the donors in cooperation with

transnationalcorporations (consultancy firmsand theminingcorporations)use

the disaster as vehicle to impose their conditionalities (with ultimatum) to

achieve theirownobjectives.Thehighwayconstruction innarrowanddensely

populated areas is hardly accepted that it is for the benefit of the local


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communities. It must be for the interests of big corporations that need fast

transportation;andAcehisrichofoilandnaturalgasthetwonaturalresources

that have been long exploited by transnational corporations and that have

becomethemaincausesoflongconflictsinAceh.

Thecasestudyshowsthateventhedonorscannotrecognizethelocaldemocratic

ownershipasthefirstprincipleintheParisDeclarationonAidEffectiveness.

DonK.Marut

ExecutiveDirector

INFID


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WEAREBABYTURTLES,WHOHAVETOBECLOSETOTHESEA:

ACaseStudyofTsunamiVictims,WhoseResettlementRightsareThreatened

byaUSAIDfinancedHighwayinAceh,NorthernSumatera,Indonesia

ByGeorgeJunusAditjondro1andEddyPurwanto2

INTRODUCTION:

THISisacasestudywithvariouscharacteristics.Firstofall,thisisacase

studywhere the sovereignty of grassroots villagers is threatenedby the self

proclaimedsovereigntyofoneoftheworldslargestaidagencies:theUSAgency

for InternationalDevelopment (USAID).Secondly, it isacase studywhere the

reconstructionofaregion, terriblydestroyedbyanaturaldisaster,hasbecome

heavilydependent

on

the

dictates

of

aid

agencies,

and

in

particular,

on

USAID.

Thirdly, it is a case study

which further highlights

what Graham Hancock

has emphasized in his

LordsofPoverty:ThePower,

Prestige and Corruption of

the International Aid

Business (1989), namely

howofficial

development

aid(ODA)oftenmasksthe

interests of large private

corporations, particularly,

oil and construction

companies.

Next, it is a case studywhere the peace settlementbetween a national

government and a provincebased independence movement is financially

underminedbybureaucratsinthenationalcapital,increasingthedependenceof

Acehsprovincial

government

on

USAID,

thereby

eroding

the

accountability

of

1). Independent researcher, with special interest in the political economy of post-disaster reconstruction in

Aceh and Nias, and has written several reports published by the International NGO Forum for Indonesian

Development (INFID). With a Ph.D. and an M.S. from Cornell University, Dr. Aditjondro is currently a

guest lecturer at the Sanata Dharma University in Yogyakarta.2). Community organizer (CO) of YAKKUM Emergency Unit (YEU), with field experience in Aceh,

currently in charge of advocacy for the rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Aceh and other

places served by YEU. He has a B.A. in Law.

26 August 2005. Post-tsunami Kuala Bubon. A large part of the villagelandmass has been reclaimed by the sea


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thegovernmenttograssrootscommunities,inparticular,thefisherfolksofKuala

Bubon,whoarerebuildingtheirlivelihoodafterthe2004tsunamitookathirdof

theirvillageandmanyoftheirrelativesandneighbors.

Finally, this isacasestudyof resilientvillagers,whohavecontinued to

fightfortheirrightstomaintaintheintegrityoftheircommunityvisvisUSAID,

inaDavidversusGoliathtypestruggle.

Obviously, this is also a case studywhere postdisaster reconstruction

activities,threatenedbytime(andbudget)constraints,oftenoverlookecological

factors, local wisdom in rebuilding communities, health factors, and existing

legalregulations.Whatmakesthiscasemoreunique,though,isthefactthatthe

cultureand localwisdom in theprovinceofAceh is recognizedby Indonesian

laws and provincial regulations (qanun), as well as by the Memorandum of

Understanding(MoU)

between

the

Government

of

Indonesia

and

the

Free

Aceh

Movement(GAM,GerakanAcehMerdeka),signedinHelsinkionAugust15,2005.

These legal obligations have been overruled by most posttsunami housing

projects.

Incontrasttothatgeneralpractice,thereconstructionofhousesofKuala

Bubon,agampong (village) in thedistrictofWestAceh,hasbeenplannedand

executed by an Indonesian nongovernment organization, YEU (YAKKUM

Emergency Unit), after consulting the villagers and then rebuilding the entire

village

based

on

the

peoples

wish

to

remain

near

to

the

sea,

to

continue

living

as

fisherfolks.Inan innovativeway,YEUhasrebuilt thepeoplesvillagewithan

architecturalstyleinspiredbythevernaculararchitectureoftheSeruipeoplein

WestPapua,wholiveinstiltedhousesabovethesea.Wearebabyturtles,who

have tobeclose to thesea, is thepopularsayingof theKualaBubonvillagers

(PuthutEA2007b:133).

Atthetimeofwritingthisresearchreport,thisnewlyrebuiltKualaBubon

villageand95otherhousesbuildbyotherNGOsinsevennearbyvillages are

threatenedtobedestroyedbya30metrewidehighwaywhichistobebuiltwith

aUSAID

grant.

Appeals

from

the

Kuala

Bubon

villagers

to

USAID

to

reroute

the

road have fallen ondeaf ears.This hasmadepeoplewonder,what exactly is

USAIDs motive to build a 30metre wide highway across a river delta,

bulldozing its way through villages and houses rebuilt by national and

internationalNGOs for these fisher folkswho refused to relocate far from the

coast?


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InordertoinvestigatethehiddenagendaofUSAIDspersistencetobuild

itshighwayacrossKualaaswellasinvestigatethereluctanceofthenationaland

provincial governments to challenge USAIDs persistence with its planned

highway across Kuala Bubon, YEUs partner organization, CD Bethesda, has

commissioned the authors of this report to do combined library and field

research on thismatter.Admittedly, this research reporthasnot answered all

questionssatisfactory.


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RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY:

TO investigate the interestsbehindUSAIDspersistence inbuilding the

northwesternhighwayacrossKualaBubon,aswellasthereluctanceofnational

andprovincial authorities to challenge the agencys ignoranceof thevillagers

feelings, the following researchmethodologyhavebeenemployed.Firstlyand

continuously,theresearchteamhascollectedandreadvariousreportsavailable

about the history and development of the Kuala Bubon resettlement project,

literature about the localwisdom in themanagement of coastal villages, and

official reports of the provincial government of the existing and forthcoming

investmentprojectsinAceh,especiallyonthenorthwesterncoast.

Secondly, the team did a content analysis of the local print media,

especially the Serambi Indonesia daily, focusing on any news of the USAID

financedhighway,

to

assess

the

attitude

of

provincial

authorities

and

USAID

officials towards local people protesting against the eviction or destruction of

theirland,houses,andfacilitiestoearntheirliving.

Thirdly, the research team carried out participant observation of the

conditionofsegmentsoftheUSAIDfinancedroadbydrivingarentalcaralong

the road fromMeulaboh toCalang and fromCalang toBandaAceh.Another

formofparticipantobservationwasspendinganightatKualaBubontoobserve

thedailylifeinthevillage.

Fourthly,theresearchteamcarriedoutinterviewswithAcehgovernment

officials, USAID officials,business people, activists, YEU staffwho hadbeen

involved in the reconstructionofKualaBubonandvillagersalong theCalang

BandaAcehhighway,whoselandhavebeenappropriatedtowidentheexisting

road, and drivers of trucks employedby the road contractors.Unfortunately,

interviews with Aceh officials, including the Governor, did not provide any

usefulinformation,sinceeithertheydidnotknowmuchabouttheroadproject,

ortheywerereluctanttocriticizetheUSaidagency.

Fifthly,afocus

group

discussion

(FGD)

was

carried

out

by

the

research

teamwith thevillageeldersofKualaBubononJuly11,2008,attendedamong

othersbytheKualaBubonvillagehead(keuchik),villagesecretary,villagecouncil

of four elders (tuha peut), Village Development Body (LPD, or Lembaga

Pembangunan Desa), and the marine customary chief (Panglima Laot) of the

Samatigasubdistrict.


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Thesixthandfinalresearchmethodwasbyusing the internet facilityat

YEUs TrainingCentre in Pakem,Yogyakarta, to search for ongoing news on

KualaBubonandtoinvestigatethebackgroundofUScorporationsclosetiesto

USAID.

KUALABUBON,BEFOREANDAFTERTHE2004TSUNAMI:

BEFORE the 2004 tsunami, Kuala Bubon literally, the mouth of the

Bubon river wasaverybusy fishingvillage,withhundredsof fishingboats

coming in and out the river every day. The villagers themselves at that time

owned121boats.Themenweremostlyfishermen,famousfortheirfishingskills,

with thewomenbuying the incoming catch,whichwas sold to fish vendors

(muge),whom in turnrode theirmotorcycles tosell thefish toothervillages in

theWestAceh district.Outsiders from the nearby districts ofAcehJaya and

NaganRaya

also

frequented

or

stayed

in

Kuala

Bubon,

working

as

muge,

as

workersatthefishauctionterminal(TPI=tempatpelelangan ikan),asworkersat

theicefactory,orascrewonKualaBubonfishingboats.Thevillagewasalways

busy around the clock, except on Thursdays, when the men did not go out

fishingatnight,sothattheycouldattendtheFridayprayersatthelocalmosque

(PuthutEA2007a:1278;interviews).

Administratively,KualaBubonbelongstotheSamatigasubdistrict,itselfa

partofWestAcehdistrict,sandwichedbetweentheIndianOceanonitssouth

and

swamps

on

the

north

(Puthut

2007a:

128),

which

had

partly

been

turned

into

brackishwaterfishponds(tambak).AspartofSamatigasubdistrict,the

customaryfisheryormarineombudsman,orPanglimaLaot,accordingtoAcehs

tradition(Syarif2003)ofKualaBubon,fallsunderthePanglimaLaotofSamatiga.

Economically, the village and its inhabitantswere quitewell off. Taxes

paid from the fish trade, ice factory, thenearbyport forCPO (crudepalmoil)

tankers ofPTKaryaTanah Subur (KTS), and the fishingboatdockyard,have

earned the title donorsvillage toKualaBubon. In addition to its economic

reputation,manypeople fromMeulaboh, thedistrictcapital,oftencame to the

villagejust

to

enjoy

its

beautiful

sea,

coast,

and

fish

ponds,

with

the

mountains

onthebackground(PuthutEA20071:128).

Politically,KualaBubonwas a safeplaceduring theprotractedguerilla

war between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian military,

where refugees from other villages orparts ofAceh felt safe (idem).Thiswas

important in those days as it is still now, after theAugust 15, 2005,Helsinki


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26 August 2005. A view of post-tsunami Kuala Bubon and the rubbleof the remaining homes

AgreementbetweenGAM and theTNI, since the rivalry is still alivebetween

thosewho supportand thosewhooppose the independencemovement in the

westernpartofAceh,whichharboralatentmovementtoseparatewesternand

southernAceh from theprovince,backedby antiHelsinki agents in and from

Jakarta.

ThispeacefulandprosperouspictureofKualaBubonchanged radically

after thewavesof the IndianOceansweptover thevillageon theafternoonof

December 26, 2004.After the

water resided, it was found

that221ofthe929inhabitants

ofKualaBubonhadperished,

consistingof116 femalesand

105 males. All the buildings

hadbeen

leveled

to

the

ground, the existing bridge

across the Bubon river that

connected Kuala Bubon and

its southern neighbour, Suak

Timah,was sweptaway, and

600m2 (6,500 square feet) of

the village land was now

under water (Puthut EA

2007a:130).

With thehelpofoutsideorganizations, the remaining 754KualaBubon

villagers received temporary shelter in seven IDP barracks in the Samatiga

subdistrict. TheWestAceh district government planned to resettle the entire

village inCotSeumereung, avillagequite far from the sea,and issued anew

regulation prohibiting anybody to residewithin 500metres of the coast line.

Finally,only60families,mostlynotfisherfolks,relocatedtotwonearbyvillages

CotSeumereungandGampongTengah ,while118familiesremainedinthe

barracks,waitingforthetimetoreturntotheiroldvillage(PuthutEA2007a:130

1,2007b:

137

8;

interviews).

ThatwasthetimethatYEU,whohadhelpedtobuildtherefugeebarracks

at the old village,began seriously discussingwith the village leaders how to

rebuildtheirvillage.First,theyneeded tocompensatefortheir land,losttothe

sea,butwhatwasavailablewasonlyformerfishponds(tambak)thathadturned


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20 May 2006. Building feeling of togetherness among the people ofKuala Bubon to start reconstruction (Strategic Plan forum)

into swamps. With financial assistance of the Board of Rehabilitation and

Reconstruction,orBRR (BadanKoordinasiRehabilitasidan Rekonstruksi) forAceh

andNias,theWestAcehdistrictgovernmentpurchasedfourhectaresofland

actually, swamps,with seawaterat adepthofone to threemetres , for the

priceofRp17,000rupiahpersquaremetretorebuildKualaBubon.

Consequently, this triggered thesecondquestions:should thoseswamps

be reclaimedand thehousesbuilton solidground?Or, should thenewKuala

Bubonhousesbebuiltonstilts,abovetheseawater?

The second option

was chosen. Apart from

being too costly, estimated

to reach 50 billion rupiah,

the

environmental

and

health risks of transporting

millions of tons of gravel

and sand from faraway

places would be quite

monumental. In addition,

thenewunderwatersoiland

sand in the Bubon delta

were stillmoving, since the

river

currents

and

marine

waveshadnotyetreacheda

new equilibrium, and were still depositing sand. Hence, YEUs shelter team,

headed by Setyo Dharmodjo, an architect with years of experience in the

reconstructionofhomesfornumerousdisastervictims inIndonesia,decided to

design 118 houses on stilts on the seabottom,with the accompanying public

buildings on the remaining solid ground. As he told the researchers in an

interview inYogyakarta onAugust 21, 2008, thiswashis second time he has

designed houses on stilts on thewater. The first onewas inJayapura,West

Papua, inspiredby the traditionalarchitectureof theSeruipeople.As it turned

out,the

costs

of

building

118

houses

on

the

water

in

Kuala

Bubon

was

much

less

thanthefirstoption,namelyaround16billionrupiah.

Unfortunately,whilethevillagerswerestillcooperatingwithstaffpersons

of YEU and its sister organization, CD Bethesda, to rebuild the community,

residingin118housesonthewater,whichwasnotaneasytask,consideringall

thetraumawhichthevillagershadgonethrough,anewdangerwaslurkingon


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thehorizon:a30metrewidebridgeandhighway thatUSAIDwasplanning to

build across theBubonBay.Letusnow turn to the history of thisproject, as

reconstructedfromreportsandinterviewswithvariouspersonsinvolved.

USAID:

WHILE the Kuala Bubon

villagers had basic survival as

their ultimate goal in rebuilding

their village, completely different

considerationswereinthemindof

certain international aid agencies,

which had rushed to Aceh

immediately

after

the

2004

earthquakeandtsunami.Sincenot

onlyKualaBubon,butmajorparts

of the northwestern coast

provincial road fromMeulaboh to

BandaAcehwasalsodestroyed,thisfactcreatedtheneedforamajoraidproject

in the region.The two largest creditornations in theAsiaPacific,namely the

USAandJapan,wereboth interested inrebuilding the240kilometreroadasa

signatureproject,anaidprojectwhichwouldenable theAcehneseandother

Indonesian

people

always

to

remember

the

generosity

of

those

who

donated

that

projecttotheIndonesianpeople.

Soeagerwas theUSAgency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID)as

well as theJapan InternationalCooperation System (JICS) to rebuild the road

along Acehs northwestern coastline that the Indonesian Minister for Public

Workshad to interfere. A compromisedealwas forged,bydividing the road

into twosections.TheBandaAcehCalangsegmentof104,13kilometreswas to

bebuiltbyUSAID,whiletheconstructionoftheCalangMeulabohsegmentwas

handedovertoJICS.


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18 January 2007. Mr Setjo Darmojo explains the Kuala Bubon house

building plan to Christine from USAID. The arrow points to the standingdemo houses

Each aid agency

contracted the

construction of the

roadsegmentallocated

to them to different

contractors, according

to different standards

and with quite

different results. The

USAID segment

followed the US

standard of 30metre

wide highways, which

was contracted to a

jointventure

of

the

South Korean

construction company,

SsangyongConstructionandEngineeringLtd,and the Indonesian stateowned

company,PTHutamaKarya,forUS$108million(BisnisIndonesia,June25,2007),

while the JICS segment was contracted to another Indonesian stateowned

company,PTAdhiKarya,which in turn subcontracted it toa local contractor,

known asHajiTito.ThisJICS segmentwas of verypoor standard, consisting

mainly of capping the existing roadwith a thin layer of gravel and asphalt,

which

in

many

places

has

already

worn

off

(Serambi,

June

30

&

July

2,

2007;

interviews;observations).

From Teunom inAcehJaya district to Samatiga inWestAceh district,

JICSscontractordidnot follow theexisting road,butbuiltanewroad further

inland,8metreswide.ThisroadcircumventedKualaBubonandothervillages

around theBubonBaybyabout24kilometres, inanalignmentpopularizedby

USAIDstaffinBandaAcehasthehorseshoe.Accordingtooneinformant,this

wasdone tobring the road to thedoorstepsof thepersonalhouseofa former

districthead(Bupati)ofWestAceh.Anotherinformant,however,deniedthatany

WestAceh

Bupati

owned

apersonal

house

anywhere

along

that

horseshoe.

The overall planning and supervision of the 240kilometre road from

BandaAceh toMeulaboh, however,was contractedbyUSAID to aUS firm,

namelyParsonsGlobalServicesInc,forUS$34.9million,ormorethanfourteen

percentoftheprojectedvalueoftheentireroad,namelyUS$245million(Suara

MerdekaCyberNews,Nov.14,2005;USAIDIndonesiaPressRelease,Nov.14,2005).


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4 April 2007. Roy Ventura and Christine from USAID present andexplain the road construction to the people of Kuala Bubon, BRR,

Spanish Red Cross, CRS and YEU

RESEARCHFINDINGS:

IN the following section we will describe the findings of the research

team,whichhavecombined libraryresearch,fieldobservations, interviewsand

internet search,which took place inYogyakarta andAceh fromJuly 18, 2008untilAugust25,2008:

(a).AlthoughtheentireCalangMeulabohsegmenthadbeenassignedtoJICS,

andnottoUSAID,afterthehorseshoealignmenthadbeenbuiltbyPTAdhi

Karyaanditssubcontractor,theUSAIDofficeinBandaAcehsteppedinby

askingParsonsGlobalServicesInc.tosuggestseveraloptionstoshortcutthat24

kilometrehorseshoe

alignment.

Consequently,although

theconsultancy

companyofferedseveral

options,rangingfrom

moredeeperinlandto

closertotheseashore,

USAIDeventuallychose

theoptionthatcrosses

theriverwithahuge

bridgeandthencuts

acrossKualaBubonand

alsocrushesahundred

newlybuilthousesin

sevenadjoiningvillages.

NosatisfactoryanswerhasbeengivenwhyRoyR.VenturaJr.,theUSAIDAceh

RoadProjectTeamLeaderhasrigidlymaintainedthatposition.

(b).According to information provided to the research teambyKuala Bubon

villagers,theUSAIDpersonstheyhadmetmaintainedthattheroutechosenby

theAgency

could

neither

be

moved

further

inland

nor

closer

to

the

seashore,

and

couldnotbebent.Observationbytheresearchteamhasfoundout,though,that

alongtheCalangBandaAcehUSAIDfinancedroad,therearemanybends,and

althoughinsomeplacesrockshavebeenblastedtoallowtheroadtogothrough,

inmostplacesthe30metrewideroadsmoothlyfollowed thehillytopography,

and insomeplaces theroadcamequiteclose to theshore,and inotherplaces,


17/26

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the road went through reclaimed swamps, using geotextile sheets as a

foundationfortherocksandsand.

(c).TheUSAIDAcehRoadProjectTeamLeaderhas consistentlyunderplayed

the social and environmental impact ofbuilding thebridge and road across

KualaBubonandsevenothervillages,byplayingdown thenumberofhouses

that may need tobe relocated. Sometimes mentioning four houses in Kuala

Bubon, and at other occasions mentioning one or two houses, hasbeen the

rhetoricgamehehasplayed.Infact,assessingfromtheyellowandredtagstied

to spikes in the ground,which indicate the alignment of the proposed road,

YEUsfieldstaffinMeulabohhasestimatedthatatotalof125housesneedtobe

relocated, namely twenty in Suak Timah, twenty in Kuala Bubon, four in

Gampong Tengah, five inGampongCut, 38 in Suak Pandan, fifteen in Suak

Padebreh,threeinSuakSemaseuh,andtwentyinPribu.Thesehouseswerebuilt

notonly

by

YEU,

an

Indonesian

NGO,

but

also

by

the

World

Vision,

the

Catholic

ReliefService(CRS),SOS(Swiss),theSpanishRedCross,theIslamicRelief,and

HTF International.Apart from this direct adverse impact,what has notbeen

publicizedbytheUSAIDisthatthe30metrewidehighwaywillsplitthoseeight

villagesinaBerlinWallstyle,sinceforsecurityreasonsaswellasfortheirown

safety, the localvillagerswill lose their freedom towalk across thathighway,

wheremotoristswillenjoytheluxuryofracingtheirmotorcyclesandcarswith

speedsofupto100kilometres/hour,whichtheyhaveneverexperiencedbefore

inAceh.Oneneedsonly to lookat the statisticsofcasualties fromautomotive

accidents

in

local

clinics,

to

understand

how

any

minor

improvement

in

the

qualityof the roads inAcehhas increased those fatalitiesevenbefore theUS

stylehighwayhasbeenintroducedtotheprovince.

(d).SpeakingoftheUShighwaysystem,oneshouldunderstanditshistoryinthe

UnitedStatesofAmerica,whichmayhavesomerelevanceforusinIndonesia.In

1921, theUSgovernmentstarted theUShighwaysystem,basedonaUSArmy

report for national defense. US President Eisenhower greatly expanded the

systeminthe1950s,anditisthereforeofficiallycalledtheEisenhowerNational

SystemofInterstateandDefenseHighways.AccordingtoRebeccaYoung,aUS

Presbyteriantheologian

teaching

at

the

Jakarta

Theological

Seminary

(STT

Jakarta),herownvillageinNorthGeorgiaisfightingagainstahighwaythrough

herarea,becausethereasonforbuildingthathighwayistoallowthemilitaryto

transportnuclearwastethrougharuralareainsteadofthecityofAtlanta.Soit

isclear that theUSGovernmentregularly is in thehabitofdisruptingcitizens

lives and the environment for military purposes, said Ms. Young in an

interviewwith theresearch team.Thisraises than thequestion, isAceh indeed


18/26

- 12 -

facingsimilardefensechallengesas imaginedbyEisenhower, that theprovince

needssuchwidehighways?

(e).Unfortunately,theUSAIDteaminAcehhasaquitedominantpositionvis

vis theprovincialgovernment,whichmakes thegovernment lessresponsive to

the grassroots peoples complaints. This USAID dominance canbe deduced

from three factors.Firstly, it canbededuced from the languageused topush

through theconstructionof theCalangBandaAcehsegment,whichhadbeen

slowed downby local peoples resistance at various places.After theUSAID

team threatened to pull out from the entire project, labeled in the local print

mediaasanultimatum,onecanreadstatementsfromtheAcehauthoritiesthat

alsobecameharsher to the resistingparties (seeheadlinesofSerambi Indonesia,

July 910, 2008). Secondly, Acehs provincial government has become quite

financiallydependentontheUSAID,sinceIndonesiasnationalgovernmenthas

delayedthe

transfer

of

routine

and

development

budget

from

Jakarta

to

Banda

Acehformorethansixmonthsatthetimeofwritingthispaper.Thisdependence

canbeseenfromthefactthatthethirdandfourthflooroftheAcehGovernors

office is rented to the Acehbased USAID team (Majuddin, n.d.). Thirdly,

althoughtheCalangMeulabohsectionhadbeencontractedtoJICS,theUSAIDs

interferencetoshortcutthesocalledhorseshoehasnotreceivedanyresistance

fromtheWestAcehandprovincialgovernments.

(f). Hence, it is extremely important to study USAIDs links to large US

companies,

which

have

already

invested

their

capital

in

Aceh,

or

are

in

the

processofbiddingforlargebusinessdeals.Inthatlightonehastoseetherecent

openingofabrandnewpolytechnicinstituteinBandaAceh,financedbyajoint

US$10billionbudgetoftheUSAIDandoneofthe largestoilcompaniesinthe

world, namely ChevronTexaco, or Chevron, called the Vocational Training

Alliance forAceh.Thegroundbreaking ceremonyof thispolytechnic institute,

whichwilloccupysevenhectaresoflandintheUleeKarengsubdistrictinBanda

Aceh,tookplaceonMonday,April23,2007,andwasattendedbyAcehDeputy

GovernorMuhammadNazar andBandaAcehMayorMawardiNurdin. This

jointventurewasprecededbyaUSAIDChevronjointprogram to trainyoung

personsfrom

Aceh

and

Nias

at

the

Caltex

Polytechnic

School

in

Pekanbaru,

Riau

(SiaranPersKedubesAS,April29,2006).AsthenUSAmbassadorB.LynnPascoe

stated inPekanbaru,after the firstgroupof132AcehandNiasyouth finished

their training:ThepartnershipbetweenUSAIDandChevron reflecteda long

term investment for AcehNias economy (BRR daily news on

http://www.brr.go.id/,Thursday,August10,2006).Hence, it isnotunlikely that

Chevron ispaving theway toopen theirownoil andgasmining activities in


19/26

- 13 -

Acehwiththesupportoftheirpartner,USAID,especiallyafterthediscoveryof

the huge hydrocarbon reservenortheast of Simeulue island (Serambi Indonesia,

February12,2008).

(g).A largeUS companywithmuch closer links toUSAID, as far asAceh is

concerned, is Parsons Global Service Inc. This company,based in Pasadena,California,USA,hasbeencontracted todesignand supervise theBandaAceh

MeulabohroadforUS$34.9million.As theresearch teams internetsearchhas

shown,thiscompanyhasalsobeensubcontractedbyUSAIDinvariouspostwar

andpostdisastercountries,suchasinIraq,whereParsonsreceivedacontractof

$500million,includingUS$240milliontobuild150primaryhealthcare(PHC)

clinicsthroughoutIraq.However,twoyearsafterthecontractwasawarded,the

Special InspectorGeneral for IraqReconstruction (SIGIR), an independentUS

governmentagency,issuedareportwhichstatedthatParsonshadreapedaUS$

3.3million

profit,

although

US$

70

million

worth

of

expensive

medical

equipmenthadnotbeendeliveredtothePHCs,whilemostofthePHCshadnot

beenbuilt yet or hadbeen rejected due to poor quality (Moses 2004;Mandel

2006;Chatterjee2007). Hence,itisamazingthatdespitethisnegativereputation,

USAIDhasstillcontractedParsonsGlobalServicesInc.toplanandsupervisethe

constructionof theBandaAcehMeulaboh road,whileParsons themselves are

theoneswhoneedtobesupervised.

(h).Fromtheinterviewsthathavebeenconductedbytheresearchteamandby

analyzingpriorlanduseplansintheBubonBay,itseemsthattheAcehUSAID

team,whoareveryclosetotheauthoritiesinBandaAceh,alreadyknewofplanstobuildnewharborsintheBay,andthatthoseplanscouldonlybeexecutedif

theKualaBubonvillagehasbeenremoved.Thesefollowingeventsshow those

indicators:

(h.1.). When Christine, whom at one stage was recruited as a surveyor by

USAID, visited the village area onJanuary 18, 2007, five stilted houseswere

alreadycompletedandshowntothesurveyor,whorecordedtheboundariesof

KualaBubonslandwithherGPSdevice.Thispersonadmittedthatbythattime

theAceh

USAID

team

had

hoped

that

all

the

Kuala

Bubon

villagers

would

have

followed thedistrict governments appeal to relocate toCot Seumereung. She

also stated to the community leaders that she would raise the communitys

concern about the USAID plan to build the road across the village to her

superiors inBandaAceh,However, ina followupmeetingwithRoyVentura,

theUSAIDAcehRoad Team Leader, at theUSAIDAceh office onMarch 11,


20/26

- 14 -

2007,VenturastatedthatChristineisnolongerworkingfortheAgencyandthat

shedidnothavetherighttosayanythingonbehalfofUSAIDatthattime.

(h.2.).WhenotherUSAIDsurveyorscametoKualaBubontoconductsounding

tests to determine the soils strength to carry theburden ofbridges or other

buildings,theydidituntiladepthof50metres.YEUsengineerwhowasatthe

sitetosupervisetheconstructionofthestiltedhousesaskedthesurveyors,why

they did the sounding so deep, because usually 15 metres is deep enough.

Unfortunately,hedidnotreceiveasatisfactoryanswer.Bythattime,theUSAID

surveyorscouldseethatfiveexemplaryhouseshadalreadybeenbuilt,andthe

constructionhadalreadybegunforthe113otherhouses.

(h.3.).Accordingtooneinformant,ayearbeforethe2004tsunami,asoiltesthad

alreadybeencarriedoutbycertainparties tobuildanewharbor in theBubon

riverdelta,

more

or

less

where

the

newly

rebuilt

Kuala

Bubon

village

is

located.

The testwas carried outby a teacher of the local engineering high school in

Meulaboh,andwasofquitehighstandards.

(h.4.).Before the2004 tsunami, thenearbyLhokBubonvillageat thenorthern

endoftheBubonBayhadharboredspecialships(tankers,asthelocalpeoplecall

them),carryingthecrudepalmoil(CPO)producedbyPTKaryaTanahSubur,a

member companyof theAstraAgroLestariGroup,whichhas a 5,000hectare

palm oilplantation inWestAceh.After the tsunami,PTKTSmoved itsCPO

export

to

the

Ujung

Karang

harbor

of

Meulaboh,

which

has

been

rebuilt

with

Singaporean aid. It is not unlikely that the business community on Acehs

westerncoastisinterestedinfinancingtheconstructionofanewandlargerCPO

portintheBayarea,sinceinadditiontoPTKTS,anothercompany,PTBosowa

Megapolis isopeninganewpalmoilplantation in thePangasubdistrictof the

neighboringAcehJayadistrict.

(h.5.).The(national)DepartmentofMarineandFisheryhasalreadyannounced

planstobuildanewfishauctionsite(TPI)andfisheryharborinSuakTimahat

the southern end of the Bubon Bay,with abudget of 15billionRupiah. This

informationfirst

came

from

the

Panglima

Laot

of

Samatiga

subdistrict,

who

is

alsoaKualaBubonvillager,duringourFGD inKualaBubononJuly21,2008,

andhasbeenverifiedby threeother informants inMeulabohandBandaAceh

duringthecourseofourfieldresearch.

(h.6.).TwoinformantsinMeulabohalsoinformedtheresearchteamaboutplans

tomovethecurrentferryharborfromUjungKaranginMeulabohtotheBubon


21/26

- 15 -

Bay. Ferries from this port daily transport passengers, vehicles, and other

merchandisefromMeulabohtoSinabangontheislandofSimeulue.Reportedly,

another15billionRupiahhasbeenallocated for thisproject,although itsexact

locationintheBubonBayisstillunknown.However,withthediscoveryofhuge

hydrocarbon reserves northeast of Simeulue by German and Indonesian

geologists,which couldbe seen as ablessing indisguise of the 2004 tsunami

(Serambi Indonesia, February 12, 2008), marine traffic between Simeulue may

increasetremendouslyandthenewferryportwillhaveanincreasinglystrategic

value.

(h.7.).Finally, in the comingyears theremayemergeadditionalpressure from

the mining sector to build or expand the existing harbours of West Aceh,

especiallyfromthegoldminesintheSungaiMassubdistrict,wheregoldmining

hastakenplaceontheupperstretchoftheWoylaRiver,withtraditionalaswell

asmodern

techniques,

for

the

last

two

decades.

(i). Last but certainly not least, the Kuala Bubon villagers themselves have

attemptedtoutilizeallpeacefulwaystodefendtheirrightstorebuildtheirown

livelihoodaccordingtowhathasbeentheirtraditionfordecades,namelyfishing

andbuildingandrepairingfishingboats.First, theyappealedforsupport from

theWestAcehdistricthead(Bupati)andthedistrictparliament(DPRK=Dewan

PerwakilanRakyatKabupaten).WithlettersofsupportfromtheBupatiandDPRK

of West Aceh, they have gone to see the Provincial Parliament (DPRA), the

Governor

of

Aceh,

the

Aceh

Nias

Rehabilitation

&

Reconstruction

Coordination

Body(BRRNADNias),theUNcoordinatingbodyforNGOs(UNORC),andthe

USAIDAcehRoadTeamLeader, allwithout any significant result.Hence, on

July 12, 2008, the village leaders sent letters of complaints to thePresident of

Indonesia, Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and to the National Human Rights

Commission (Komnas HAM).Whilewaiting for an answer from thePresident,

theyhave invitedKomnasHAM commissioners tovisit theirvillage,beforeor

afterthefastingmonth,Ramadhan.


22/26

- 16 -

CONCLUSIONS:

The followingconclusionsarederived from the findings in theprevious

section:

(1).Intheiranxietytoputasignatureontheirsupportforthereconstructionof

Aceh,theUSAgencyforInternationalDevelopment(USAID)hasintroducedthe

NorthAmericanhighwaysystemintotheprovince,withoutapriordebateabout

the appropriateness of the Eisenhower system of highways into a different

country, with a completely different history and culture, and without an in

depth study into the impact of road improvement to trafficbehavior. By this

careless introductionof theEisenhowerhighwaystyle inAceh, theUSAIDand

itscorporatepartner,namelyParsonsGlobalServicesInc.,havebehavedlikean

elephant in a china store, creating hundreds ofjobs forNorthAmerican and

othernon

Acehnese

consultants

and

business

people,

without

considering

the

BerlinWalleffect,and,in thespecialcaseofKualaBubon,theadverseimpact

on efforts to revitalize the maritime and coastal culture of Acehs coastal

villagers.

(2).Thereluctanceofnationalgovernmentofficials torecognizeGAMsvictory

intheprovincialanddistrictelectionsbywithholdingAcehsprovincialbudget

for the lastsixmonths.Thishasforced theprovincialgovernment tosearchfor

alternative financial sources andhas turned toUSAID and other international

agencies

as

the

major

financial

supporters

of

the

Aceh

provincial

government.

This financial dependence on the USAID hasbeen quite detrimental for the

peopleofKualaBubon,aswellasforothervillagersalongtheUSAIDfinanced

northwestern road, since their appeals for support andunderstanding of their

ownelectedleadersoftenfallondeafears.Thisexaggeratedsenseofgratitudeto

USAIDhasblinded theprovincialbureaucratseyes to theuniquecontribution

made by the people of Kuala Bubon in rebuilding their community by

revitalizingtheircoastalandmarineculture,asrequiredbytheLoGA(LawNo.

11/2006ontheGovernmentofAceh)andbytheAugust15,2005,MoUbetween

theGovernmentofIndonesiaandtheFreeAcehMovement.

(3).Ourresearchhasalsoshownthatplayerswithdiverseeconomicinterestsare

eagertowipeKualaBubonoffthemap,sothattheexistenceofthatvillagewill

nothinderseveralplanstobuildspecialharborsalongtheBubonBay,including

a ferry harbor to transport commuters and other passengers from the Aceh

mainland to the island of Simeulue, which may becoming a new economic


23/26

- 17 -

June 2008 : daily activities, children and women enjoyed their neighbourhood in Kuala Bubon

growthcentreafterthediscoveryofhugehydrocarbonreservesnortheastofthe

island.

(4).Just likebaby turtleswhohavegrownupafter reaching thesea, theKuala

Bubonpeoplehaveshowntheirresiliencetofightagainstanyattempttorelocate

them away from their traditional waters. They have refuse tobe split by a

highwaypassingthroughtheircommunity,whichlikeaBerlinWallwillpolarize

villagers living onboth sides of the highway, and are eager to invite other

villagerstojointheirstruggle.


24/26

- 18 -

RECOMMENDATIONS:

In response to those conclusions, the research teamoffers the following

recommendations:

(1). Obstruction of the national governments financial obligations to the

Government of Aceh should be eliminated to avoid overdependence of the

GovernmentofAcehtoUSAIDandotherinternationalaidagencies.

(2).Theconstructionof theBandaAcehMeulabohUSAIDfinancedhighway

shouldbe temporarilyput on hold,prior to apublicdebate regarding all the

social, environmental and cultural impacts of the highway, inviting all

stakeholders,andespeciallyvillagerslivingalong theroad,andhealthworkers

who have dealt with casualties that have happened alongside the increasing

speedand

recklessness

of

drivers

after

every

improvement

of

the

road.

(3).GovernmentauthoritiesinBandaAceh,aswellasotherpersonsinvolvedin

theroadconstruction,shouldcomeandlivewiththepeopleofKualaBubonfor

ashortperiodtobeabletodiscussandappreciatetheeffortstheyhavemadein

rebuilding their livelihood and living in refugeebarracks, andunderstand the

traumawhichtheywillexperienceifthecommunityisshatteredbytheUSAID

plannedhighway.

(4).

Reconstruction

of

any

war

torn

or

disaster

torn

country

or

region

does

not

absolve thegovernment fromhaving tobe transparentandaccountable toany

developmentproject.Hence, thenationalandprovincialgovernmentshouldbe

transparentonanyandallplanneddevelopmenteffortsintheBubonBay.Only

fulltransparencyinthisfieldandareamaypreventfurtherspeculationaboutthe

motivesbehindtheUSAIDsinsistenceonshortcuttingthesocalledhorseshoe

roadaroundtheBubonBay.


25/26

- 19 -

Bibliography:

Chatterjee, Pratap (2007).High-Tech Healthcare in Iraq, Minus the Healthcare. Specialto CorpWatch, January 8.

Majuddin, Akhiruddin (n.d.).Meneropong Bantuan Berbalut Konsesi di Aceh.

Mandel, Jenny (2006). Report details problems with contract for Iraq health centers,

govexec.com, May 1.

Moses,Greg(2004).LivefromPasadena:SilhouttesofNewOrder.CounterPunch,

March29.

PuthutEA(ed.)(2007a).MenyusunSerpihanCerminRetak:MelihatDariDekat

PenangananBencanaAlamdiAcehdanNias.Yogyakarta:YAKKUM

EmergencyUnit

(YEU).

PuthutEA(2007b).LewatBatasLuka:LembaranKisahyangHampirTertutup.

Yogyakarta:YEU.

Syarif,SanusiM.(2003).RiwangULaot:LeuenPukatdanPanglimaLaotdalam

KehidupanNelayandiAceh.BandaAceh:YayasanRumpunBambu.


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Address: Jalan Mampang Prapatan XI No.23 Jakarta 12790 IndonesiaPhone (6221) 79196721, 79196722, Fax (6221) 7941577

Email:[email protected],www.infid.org

working paper infid 2008 = usaid vs kuala bubon

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