JAKARTA, April 15 (Reuters) - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday approved a blueprint for rebuilding regions affected by the Dec. 26 tsunami and other recent disasters, an official said. The masterplan details projects stretching over five years, worth close to $5 billion, designed to get parts of two provinces on Sumatra island -- Aceh and North Sumatra -- back on their feet. Most of the money going to Aceh.

It also carries directives for next week's planned creation of a special body to administer the projects.

A magnitude 9 earthquake on Dec. 26 with its epicentre near Sumatra sent walls of water smashing into Aceh and North Sumatra provinces, leaving more than 160,000 are dead or missing.

"The president has signed the masterplan for the rehabilitation and reconstruction in Aceh and Nias island. It consists of volumes," State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra told reporters

Hde did not elaborate on the blueprint's content, but many key details have already been announced.

The masterplan includes guidelines on how to rebuild wave-flattened areas, including buffer zones in coastal cities.

The government wants the zones between the shoreline and populated areas in order to minimise possible casualties and damage from another tsunami, but the issue has proved controversial among some survivors wanting to return to the sites of their old homes.

Officials have promised that the buffer plan would be implemented sensibly and residents could choose whether to follow it strictly and receive compensation or rebuild their homes in the same place while following new safety procedures.

Last month, another strong quake with an epicentre several miles south of that in December devastated islands off the Sumatra coast, which have now been incorporated into the recovery plan.

Nias island, which escaped much of the tsunami's fury, bore the brunt of damage from the second quake, with hundreds dead and many buildings destroyed.