Eco-villages constructed in defiance of government

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2005/04/18/ecovillages-constructed-defiance-government.html

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 04/18/2005 1:45 PM

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

""We don't want to live in the hills, Mr. Minister,"" Burhanuddin, a village chief, tells State Minister of Environment Rahmat Witoelar.

""Please allow us to return to our villages and rebuild them,"" he said on Monday. The minister and his entourage were visiting Lamtengoh village in Peukan Bada, a district in Aceh Besar.

The minister was here to put his stamp of approval on the ""eco-village"" -- the partially rebuilt area of Lamtengoh that is designed to be ecologically friendly and as safe as possible for coastal communities.

Here, the English terms ""escape routes"" and ""escape hills"" have suddenly become familiar to the residents. The new escape route has been tested: ""It works, it took only a few minutes"", a villager said, for locals to scamper to the hills on the day that nearby Nias and Simeuleu were rocked by an 8.7-magnitude quake two weeks ago.

Their homes are just 500 meters away from the sea, and 500 meters from the hills.

According to Jakarta's blueprint for Aceh, all coastal land between the ocean and two kilometers inland must be entirely free of buildings. But coastal communities, whose livelihoods depend on the ocean, are resisting that plan, and villagers from Lamtengoh seem to have found a way out. At least the minister was willing to officiate over its completion. He said the blueprint and its designated two-km buffer zone ""could be adjusted"".

The village is one of 23 villages in three districts covered by the eco-village program, facilitated by the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) Uplink and led by Jakarta-based sociologist Wardah Hafidz, long known for her ""bottom up"" approach to development.

Burhanuddin said villagers chose the design -- with help from architects and engineers working with UPC -- after examining the potential impacts of earthquakes and tidal waves on their villages. In Peukan Bada district, there were only 1,000 survivors from a pre-tsunami population of 26,000.

Yet the survivors in these 22 villages across the three districts including Peukan Bada have returned to their flattened hamlets, building temporary shelters where their homes once were.

""We're fisherfolk, there is no way we can live in the hills,"" said Tarmizi of a neighboring village, summing up the feeling of he and his fellow villagers. The hills are where they will end up, if the government has its way.

Tarmizi, a village secretary, said villagers are adamant about returning, although there seems nothing to return to.

The residents of Meunasah Tuha have recently drawn up their design for a village that is eco-friendly, but with the addition of many mangrove plants to help protect the village.

And villagers are planning to immediately plant coconut trees and other plants (kecapi fruit, cemara laut) within 500 meters of the coastline.

Minister Rahmat said despite the government blueprint, the final say ""is up to the people"".

However, in the event of harmful substances found as a possible result of the tsunami, ""we will inform the people"", he said. So far studies including those coordinated by the ministry have not led to such findings.

A 'master plan' by the people, for the people

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2005/04/18/039master-plan039-people-people.html

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 04/18/2005 1:45 PM
The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

The initiatives taken by a number of villages that were badly hit by the tsunami is admirable. Needless to say, the homes where residents lived and worked are no more, but the remaining locals are intent on rebuilding their hamlets.

While others argue with the government about the new blueprint for rebuilding Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, the residents of 22 villages have designed their own blueprint. The residents have benefited from facilitation by the Urban Poor Consortium Uplink, a Jakarta-based network.

""The design is really based on the wishes of the people,"" said Yuli Kusworo, a volunteer. He is among five architects and civil engineers helping with the master plan. He said they went door to door around the villages, asking people what they wanted as regards the rebuilding of their communities.

She said the initial phase was difficult. In all, they had spent two months talking to the people of three districts in Aceh Besar regency.

""What they want now is not only to rebuild their homes, but they say they need to become closer socially and to be able to fulfill their economic needs,"" he said.

But the people's ""blueprint"" contradicts that of the government. The government does not want people to live on the coast again, supposedly for their own good.

The locals say that as fishing communities they have no choice. Together with the experts, they have designed ""escape routes"" leading straight for the nearby hills in the event of another disaster.

Their plans to plant coconut trees, pines and mangroves are not exactly to safeguard inland areas from another tsunami, as the government intends.

""The mangroves are to provide shelter from the wind breeze as this rusts our equipment in a short time. The mangroves wouldn't be able to hold back a tidal wave like the one we recently experienced,"" said Tarmizi, a village secretary.

The villages have different plans for the future of their settlements. ""For our village, Meunasah Tuha, we'll live 500 meters away from the sea,"" Tarmizi said. Houses would be located near the hills, while the rice fields would be near the sea.

The villagers here, mostly farmers and fishermen, plan to rebuild their homes soon so as to replace the current wooden buildings. In so far as possible, the houses will be designed to withstand earthquakes.

""Each home will cost around Rp 35 million,"" Yuli said.

Proper spatial and environmental planning, Yuli said, should be the focus of the rebuilding effort, instead of relocating communities.