IOM will build hundreds of transitional homes for Acehnese civil servants under a deal finalized yesterday with the government of Queensland, Australia.
IOM's head of mission in Indonesia, Steve Cook, joined State Premier, Hon. Peter Beattie, in Brisbane to announce that keys to the first 14 units of civil servant housing funded by a US $2.2 million contribution by the Queensland government, will be handed over to their new owners on 26 July in Banda Aceh.
'I talked to Mr. Cook in Indonesia while I was leading a trade mission in April and discussed the best way that the Queensland government's funds could be spent,' Mr. Beattie said. 'We agreed that it was essential to restore government services to the area to help with reconstruction and rehabilitation work, and that in order for this to happen, the civil servants would need to be housed. The Queensland government's contribution is paying for about 770 of these homes - a project which has been approved by the Federal Government.'
In the aftermath of the 26 December 2004 tragedy, the Indonesian government asked IOM to erect 11,000 transitional shelters for homeless tsunami survivors in Aceh province, a number that is expected to increase significantly in coming weeks.
In addition to building transitional homes, IOM is constructing 200 temporary schools on behalf of UNICEF and more than 50 clinics that will provide basic health care to roughly 67,000 people living in government-build temporary living centres.
For further information, please contact Paul Dillon, IOM Aceh, Tel: + 62812 698 8035, Email pdillon@iom.int