ARF-Supported Community Center: First Permanent Building in Punge Jurong

Despite its proximity to the center of Banda Aceh, Punge Jurong V is no different from other villages with regards to the state of reconstruction post-tsunami. Half of the surviving 400 villagers are still living in barracks seven miles away from the village and the other half are living under tents or in the remains of their destroyed houses. The first new structure being built in Punge Jurong is a community center, thanks to the effort by ARF.

Until November 2005, promises for housing from different organizations have yet to materialize. So far, no single permanent structure has been built, except the community center supported by a generous donation through ARF. A temporary community center was built by a local NGO with foreign funding in July 2005 and some barracks will soon be built in the village for torn-tents dwellers by an international NGO.

Why a Community Center, Why Not Housing?

Yes, this question might emerge now after we learn that housing is the most pressing problem in Aceh today.

Well, we did consider and are considering building houses for the villagers. However, we do not have the capacity to do so right now. Before deciding to build the community center, we were thinking about fundraising for housing development, but were not so successful as many were not sure about land titling and ownership. Some donors said, “We do not want to get into any trouble and have buildings destroyed due to legal issues in the future.” Some others said, “We could not build the whole village houses; we would only be able to build 10-15 houses. But the villagers rejected the proposal because they want to have houses for all at the same time.’ And yet, many others said, “No…not housing, too complicated for our small organization. Above all, the government should be building the houses!”

The only reason that we took on a permanent building project, the community center, was because the villagers wanted it and there was precedence for permanent building in the area: a permanent school was being re-built in the next village. The school construction indicated that the area will not be evacuated. Additionally, the land where the community center is being built is village property and, therefore, no potential problems regarding ownership exist.

In the future, however, we welcome donors, individual, groups or organizations, who wish to sponsor building a house. A 36-square meters house will cost 36 million IDR or approximately USD $3,600-4,000. We will provide house specifications and budget details soon.

Meanwhile, let us thank all our donors and especially the Kokoshka family for their very generous support through ARF: Thank You!!