ITF Asia / Pacific Regional Secretary Situation Report

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محتوى الصفحة: 2004 Tsunami Disaster Information > Reports from Affiliates > Regional Secretary Report

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The Regional Secretary visited Indonesia in order to have a first-hand look of the disaster in Aceh as well as to discuss with Indonesian unions on how trade unions can contribute to reconstruction efforts.

Main meetings and the schedule of the visit were as follows:

13 January 2005

Evening: ITF affiliates meeting participated by Railway workers union, IKAGI (Garuda Indonesia Cabin Crew Union) and KPI

14 January 2005

AM: flight from Jakarta to Banda Aceh (Regional Secretary, KPI President Hanafi Rustandi, IKAGI General Secretary Zainudin Malik); PM: First visit to Banda Aceh's disaster affected area; Night: discussion with locals including union activists. Stayed at Malik's friend's house.

15 January 2005

Morning: Second visit to disaster affected area (city centre); PM: flight from Banda Aceh to Jakarta; Night: discussion with the GUF delegation to Aceh (EI, ICFTU, ICFTU-APRO)

16 January 2005

Morning: GUF meeting with Indonesian unions (ITUC); PM: meeting with SPSI (Indonesian ex-official national centre)

General situation

Access to Banda Aceh

There are two daily flights going to Banda Aceh from Jakarta operated by Garuda Indonesia. However, due to the congestions in the airport, 1-2 hour delays are expected as normal. Banda Aceh airport's traffic control has been taken over by Singaporeans after the Tsunami, as many traffic controllers in the city were among the victims. According to the local people, land connection from Medang, which is the biggest city in Sumatra and second largest of all Indonesian cities, is working normal, and we witnessed many trucks and lorries working in the Aceh region carrying Medang and other Sumatra cities' plate numbers.

Although beyond approximately three kilometres from the beach were unaffected by the Tsunami, the evidence of the disaster was apparent once we touched down in Banda Aceh airport. Temporary campsites for victims were seen on the roadside even within the airport premises. On the way to the city, which is about 17 kilometres from the airport, there are mass graves and garbage dumping sites located alongside the road which gives people intolerable odours, and almost everybody were wearing surgical masks.

Three days before our visit, the Indonesian government announced that foreigners must obtain permission by the military in order to go outside of Banda Aceh. The separatist insurgence was used for this decision but international aid agencies are in general not happy of this restriction of movement.

Once you enter the Tsunami affected area, the sight was unbelievable to imagine that there were villages and towns at the same place before. Only few firm buildings remained as other houses were washed away. The sight was as if a huge bomb was dropped like in Hiroshima. Some major roads by now are cleared of debris in order to allow heavy construction equipment to reach the sites. However, on both sides of the road, piled of debris remain and from there still bodies are dug out. Even during our short visit, we witnessed three bodies being found from such piles of debris. In many parts, houses and buildings were completely destroyed without showing any trace of existence. Victims have a problem of even identifying where their houses once stood. Not many people, despite the fact that it was at daytime, were around in those villages to clear the debris. The life of the ordinary people may be restored if heavy machinery is brought in to clear the debris for them, but the cleanup operation has just started. From what we could see, only major roads and the central city park were cleared, but residential areas are not yet touched.

Outside Banda Aceh, roads and especially bridges are damaged. Therefore reaching local towns and villages are still extremely difficult and no major cleanup operations have started in those areas.

Victims are living in campsites using tents and improvised shelters. Many people prefer to live in the field rather than staying inside buildings as the frequent aftershocks reminds them of the Tsunami. The aftershocks happen everyday. Those who are lucky are accommodated in their relatives' homes, which were not damaged. Since Banda Aceh has a satellite city and has backyard countryside, in general we did not see a huge shortage of food and water. Thanks to the Indonesian and international agencies, food and water provision seems to be not in shortage as far as Banda Aceh is concerned. As long as you can pay the amount; those provisions are available in Banda Aceh.

According to the local people who we were able to talk with, rather than receiving food and water that were vital at the initial stage after the disaster, what they need now are goods and commodities in order to continue and rebuild their normal life. Especially more stable and decent shelters/homes are necessary, and schools are hoped to resume as soon as possible and provide children their most needed education.

Although some essential public service workers including the police and the army have resumed working, many workers are not yet in any condition to go back to work. As the city centre was completely destroyed, many workplaces also disappeared. Some state owned companies announced that they would pay salaries to the victims including those who are still missing. However such arrangements for salaries and compensation are yet to be determined between the companies and the workers.

Effects on the Transport Workers

Railway

The Dutch built coastal narrow-gauge (0.75 metres) railway lines exist in North Sumatra, and there are 17 major railway stations. However, the operation was stopped in 1967. The government promised to resume operations by 1995, but the lines still remain closed. There were six employees of the Indonesian railways in Banda Aceh to look after the tracks and the property. As the union office was damaged and the telephone lines are down, the Railway workers' union has not received information of the casualties so far. Many ex-railway workers are living in the area and the union is trying to gather information on their situation in vain.

Civil Aviation

There are no Garuda Indonesia crew based in Banda Aceh. They go to Banda Aceh on flight duty and stay there between flights. 16 crew (3 cockpit crew and 13 cabin crew) were staying in a hotel in the city centre for Hajj (Mecca pilgrim) flights when the Tsunami came. The first floor of the hotel they stayed collapsed by the earthquake, and immediately after the collapse the lower floors were flooded by the Tsunami. Some crew were injured but all were safe, however one hospitalised cabin crew later passed away on 13 January 2005. The Garuda Indonesia ground staff and airport workers and their families in Banda Aceh were also among the victims of the Tsunami. The airport itself was safe with no damages were done by the earthquake or the Tsunami. The aid operation centre for civil aviation workers is set up in the airport. IKAGI, an ITF affiliate, and the APG (pilot union, non-affiliate) have raised donations from their members and sent food and medicine to Banda Aceh using their crew baggage allowance, the result of the negotiations with the management. From 27 December 2004 to 3 January 2005, IKAGI and APG have managed to send in total 2 tonnes and 25 tonnes respectively, of such emergency supply.

Maritime

Ports : Eleven local ports suffered heavy damages. Due to the time constraint and formalities to obtain military permission, we did not visit those ports. However one of our affiliates, a visiting SBSI representative, is gathering information on casualties and damages in the ports.

Shipping : In addition to two capsized vessels which were already reported by the KPI, we found one tugboat type electric power plant ship, which was supplementing the city's shortage of electricity before the Tsunami, carried into the town by the tidal wave and stuck three kilometres inland. Among the 16 crew members, 10 were killed and 6 survived. As you can see in the attached photographs, many fishing boats carried by the wave remains in the town's streets. Casualties among the fishery workers seem to be very high. There is no organisation covering fishery workers in Aceh province and figures are not yet known.

Road Transport

Many minibus and taxi workers were among the Tsunami victims. The city's bus terminal was completely washed away by the Tsunami. However, there is no information available on the casualties among the road transport workers.

As far as road transport after the Tsunami is concerned, there is a general hike of fares among minibus and taxi transport. Some even say that the fares are more than ten times higher than before, which is preventing local people to use such public transport. We saw many cars hired by international agencies. Fleets of trucks and dumping trucks are in operation in Banda Aceh and many are hired by international agencies such as UNICEF and World Food Aid. They seem to be first hired by TNT, an Australian logistics corporation, and then re-hired by those organisations. As far as the dumping trucks are concerned, they are all labelled WASKITA, the Indonesian state-owned company. The supply of vehicles seems to be dominated by those two companies in Banda Aceh.

Tourism

Although it was not a recommended destination for tourists due to the insurgency in the region, the west coast of Banda Aceh was increasingly becoming popular among Australian surfers. There were small hotels alongside the coast which were destroyed. Most of the travel agencies were located in the city centre and they were completely damaged by the Tsunami. Again, lack of trade union organisation in the region makes it impossible to find out the exact casualties and damages done to the workers in the industry.

In general, due to the insurgency in the region, national trade union organisations did not treat Aceh seriously, which resulted in very little trade union organisations in existence before the Tsunami. Those who which were in operation were mainly public sector unions such as the teachers' union PGRI and the electricity union SPPLN.

After discussion we asked IKAGI General Secretary Zainudin Malik to stay on in Banda Aceh at least for one week to gather further information. He is joining the GUF mission today and tomorrow.

ITF: A further mission is planned to Sri Lanka in two weeks time

Date published: 17 January 2005

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