How is the government in Aceh doing?
The tsunami of Dec 26th 2004 left Aceh in a terrible state. Infrastructure was badly damaged, thousands of people were killed and life may not ever be the same there.
The world has contributed billions of dollars to helping Aceh rebuild and recover. One of my first worries was how all the money was going to be handled. A recent article in the Bali Advertiser gives us a clue. The governor of Aceh, Abdullah Puteh has just been jailed for 10 years and fined 4.1m rp for corruption. The range of offences he was convicted of includes skimming money off the price of a helicopter bought by the local government. He was actually arrested before the tsunami and its probably just as well.
The case of the governor siphoning off state funds is probably not the last one we are going to here about. Its the ones we do not hear about that worry me. I take my hat off once again to President Susilo who started the anti-corruption drive. This is crucial to Indonesias future and the corruption king-pins need to be dealt with.
The former Aceh governor embezzled US$1.3m. Not bad for a bankrupt renegade province. Lets hope all those billions in foreign aid go where they are supposed to.
By Nick | Permalink
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Comments
Has anyone visited the area where it’s been affected the most?- Aceh, and do you know how many out-reach organizations are set up in that region?
Thanks.
I have not been to Aceh but people who have say the damage there is much worse than you see on tv.
I heard there were over 60 aid agencies there at one time.
yeah 60 aid agencys who are getting ripped off.
Aceh’s nickname is “alibaba land”good luck NGO’s
G’Day Nick,
Corruption is a part of life in Indo, and, somehow even with the efforts of SBY it will never be eradicated.
Like you say, let’s hope the donated funds actually get to where they belong and are needed.