Harry Masyrafah's blog

It surprised me a little bit when I was driving my family along the west coast of Aceh a couple of weeks ago. Not too far from Banda Aceh, the capital city of Aceh’s province, a 15 meters wide- fresh-paved asphalt road built by the US absolutely has framed Aceh into another window of opportunity. This strategic road will connect Banda Aceh and some other districts in the west coast, which was washed away by the tsunami. Before the disaster, it was narrow and poorly maintained. This reminded me of the slogan that Mr. Clinton, former US president and also the UN special envoy for the tsunami recovery often advocated: to build back better!

The dramatic news that tv stations kept airing for weeks after Christmas five years ago prompted an unprecedented response from across the world. Governments, individuals, and aid agencies pledged at least $7billion for Indonesia, of which an astonishing $6,5 billion was allocated. According to BKRA (Reconstruction Continuation Agency for Aceh) by mid 2009, more than 140,00 houses, 3,700 km of road, 36 airports and seaports, 1,600 schools and more than 900 government buildings had been built, and 70,000 hectares of farmland were restored by various agencies, apart from the intangible assets gained from many technical assistance and capacity building programs.