“Action without well planning and concept creates another disaster. Just wait and see and the disaster will surely happen.” Before the tsunami struck in the end of 2010, Mentawai has already deal with lots of crisis such as health issues; the growth of deadly disease and mothers died in birth; education issues where low education level existed; infrastructure issues where there is no proper road access and bridges. Despite the entire crisis happened, communities in Mentawai are living in the harmony with their modest life style. Locals are also very religious one and believe everything is on God hands.
After the massive tsunami swept the island, Indonesian Disaster Management Agency published Action plan for the early recovery of Mentawai Island (RENAKSI). For the early rehabilitation programme, the government decided to relocate affected communities from their old villages to higher ground with minimum 25m above sea level.
Is this a good plan? Did the relocation areas is the precise place? How is the way of IDPs to survive in new place with shortage of facilitation?
IDPs were relocated to a new place. They brought their entire survived family with hope of a new beginning and better future. Are they hope come true? The relocation areas were conflict areas, the land is still belonging to other people and government has not paid for the damages. No clean water resources and facilitation, no kitchen and low standard of temporary shelter brought a new disaster for the IDPs. This plight has lead to the outbreak of diarrhoea and measles. 34 children, suspected to measles, were evacuated to local health centre. While in North Pagai, 2 kids died because of diarrhoea. In 8 months, 2 out of 5 pregnant women died because of shortage of health facilities and lack of knowledge of the mother on pregnancy issues.
“According to Darlinus (27 years old), a local paramedic, bad access to the remote villages has caused lots of children and mothers did not have proper medical service such as measles vaccine distribution.”
During the emergency phase, foods for people at relocation were supplied continuously by government for 8 months without preparing the local people to be more independent in fulfilling their daily needs. In May 2011, food supplies were stopped as emergency phase has come to an end while people at relocation were not independent enough to cope with the situation. A month went very quickly and their food stock became less and less. Some, mostly women, initiated to come back to their old village to grab cassava, banana and coconut for their food stock. The distance between relocation and the old village is 7 km which takes 3 days for round trip on foot. To come back to their old village, the women should go on foot through the wildwood.
At the old village, most of their farms destroyed by tsunami. The women took the rest of crops which is still eatable and put it inside their orek, it is Mentawai traditional basket. Because of the heavy weight and distance, one woman could only carry half of the basket which could only sufficient for 3 days. The plight of people in relocation was miserable and government has no concerned on this. In this oppressive condition, few IDPs started to take cassava and fruit from neighbours’ farm.
Nowadays, people at relocation were still worrying with their uncertainty situation. According the RENAKSI, in 2 years the government step by step will provide permanent house for the IDPs which the location is farther from their temporary shelter today means farther from their farm at old village. However, with the low standard of the relocation, living for 2 years there is suicide. Based on many discussions with people at relocation, if the situation is becoming worse, they prefer to come back to their old village to get close with their farm.
Pardede, the head of Mentawai Social Agency said “do not make people become more suffering than before, relocation without considering their needs is a new disaster.”
What has the government do for their people? What have we done as humanitarian agency? Do their condition is much better than before or worse?
Relocation should be the last option for people who have lived years in one place although it is vulnerable one. Participative approach should come at front to achieve what is best for the community. Tsunami and earthquake is low frequent disaster which will happen again not in near time but could be in years or maybe thousands years later. If the government has come to a conclusion to relocate affected people, then they should commit, plan and implement it well based on the right of IDPs which properly arranged in Indonesian Policy on Disaster Management and Sphere standard. Despite all the dramas happened in Mentawai, longer assistance for IDPs is surely needed to support them in recovering their condition, psychological and physical. Advocacy assistance is also important to support the community to have better accessibilities and facilities of infrastructures and qualified human resources in health and education sectors.
21 July 2011
Written by Arnice Ajawaila and Prasetio Wijaksono
Edited by Prasetio Wijaksono