Widodo vows to rebuild quake-hit Aceh province

Indonesian leader aids the displaced residents with funds

PIDIE JAYA, INDONESIA // Indonesian president Joko Widodo yesterday pledged to help the people of Aceh province rebuild as he toured the areas worst hit by an earthquake that killed 100 people and left thousands homeless.

Stopping at a collapsed mosque in Tringgading, not far from the quake’s centre, he gave out envelopes filled with 15 million rupiah (Dh4,130) – a small fortune in Aceh where the minimum wage is about 2m rupiah a month – to people whose family members were killed.

“I don’t know what to do but I’m really thankful for this donation,” said Miftahuddin, who received 15m rupiah from Mr Widodo. “Because we don’t have anything left.” The shallow 6.5- magnitude quake on Wednesday flattened hundreds of homes, mosques and businesses across Aceh, one of the areas worst affected by the tsunami disaster in 2004. The earthquake struck at dawn as many in the predominantly Muslim region were preparing for prayers.

Rescue crews have been searching the rubble with sniffer dogs while excavators cleared the debris-strewn streets two days after the disaster.

Yesterday officials said rescue operations were nearing an end.

“We believe we have found 99 per cent of the victims,” said Sutopo Nugroho, spokesman for the national disaster management agency.

The agency revised the death toll down to 100 from 102.

Humanitarian assistance is reaching the hardest-hit district of Pidie Jaya, where many spent a second night sleeping in shelters and overcrowded field hospitals.

Yesterday hundreds of people in the district held prayers outside mosques that had been reduced to rubble. Pope Francis offered his prayers to the victims overnight, urging them to be strong in their toughest hour. Mr Widodo, who flew to Aceh yesterday, met victims in hospitals before his visit to one of the destroyed mosques.

“We will rebuild this mosque as soon as possible,” he told the gathered crowd. “We’ll work through this together.” Among those who came to hear Mr Widodo speak was Rahmawati, who lost her husband and two children in the quake.

“I am happy the president is willing to see those of us who are grieving,” she said.

Aceh lies on the northern tip of Sumatra island, which is particularly prone to earthquakes.

A huge undersea earthquake in 2004 triggered a tsunami that engulfed several countries around the Indian Ocean, killing more than 170,000 people in Indonesia alone – the vast majority in Aceh.

Many parts of Indonesia experience frequent seismic and volcanic activity because of its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide.