Aceh aid: Will it get to the right people?

The destruction is Aceh after the December tsunami lefts many dead and homeless that 60 aid agencies were working there at one point. Donations of money and equipment came in from around the world and construction of a barrack style housing has begun.

President SBY has made it clear that corruption will not be tolerated and those found guilty will be jailed. That is a very good thing to hear and there are mixed reports on how the distribution of money and goods is going in Aceh. Some aid agencies report no corruption, while Aceh locals tell of soldiers passing out food only to their friends and relatives. One thing is for sure, with $6B promised some people are licking their lips in anticipation.

A BBC article points out how local government corruption works. A friend of mine who has lived in Indonesia for many years told me something similar. He said that when a highway project gets funding, the local officials take a cut then offer the project to a friendly company (this goes on all around the world. Haliburton etc.) for a payback. The company will say get a $10m project with $8.5 of the money to do it. It will do $1m worth of work and take another $1.5m for itself. The contract will be offered to another company for a payback. That company gets the $10m project with only $6m to do it. The process continues and eventually the project may get completed, the highway 2 meters narrower than planned and the asphalt half the thickness.

With proper management Aceh has a great opportunity to develop its infrastructure and following Presidents SBYs lead I hope corruption is kept to a minimum.