Jakarta, Indonesia-Relief -- As Canadians question the spending of billions raised for tsunami relief, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) begins to build homes in tsunami devastated areas. In subdistrict of Lhoong, Aceh Besar, it has start construction of 6 pilot homes in 6 villages. The communities in Lhoong asked for 400 houses.
''CRWRC is delivering,'' said CRWRC Relief Coordinator Jacob Kramer in a statement on Tuesday. ''We have built our temporary houses and are now focusing on permanent housing.''
In the Lhoong, just south of Banda Aceh, CRWRC has scheduled the construction of six pilot homes before the end of June. ''CRWRC is working with communities to build houses suitable to local circumstances. The houses will be adapted to meet the needs of its owner, including specific livelihood needs,'' said Kramer.
On its early June report CRWRC said the organization is working with the name of GenAssist under the registration of Percik, a central Java based NGO ( www.percik.or.id ). It is also in the process of registering independently as an international relief organization, because having own local legal registration will ease the situation around the transfer of funds and other legal issues.
GenAssist, which already opens a field office in Lhoong, has been asked by the local leader to build about 400 houses in the Lhoong district. To fulfill the request, CRWRC or GenAssist has started with building one house in each of 6 villages as a pilot project. After completion it will start discussing the phased start up of the larger response.
To finance the project, CRWRC will use CIDA matching funds, which currently is still being applied. © che