EPILOG – Towards a New Aceh
“hands of God” can lead Aceh and Nias ti recovery.
BRR Chairman Kuntoro Mangkusubroto loved to use this expression to drive home the point that it would take more than hard work to help Aceh and Nias recover from the disaster. It would also require sincerity, seriousness and—probably—prayer. A conventional working method, especially one applied simply to meet a certain target, cannot be expected to build a better Aceh and Nias.
In the field, I met dedicated volunteers, local leaders, NGOs, donor agencies, journalists, government officials, doctors, nurses, who all worked without any vested interest. It seemed like they were working under the guiding hands of God. However, there were also countless tsunami parasites, people who took advantage of the situation and performed sloppy work. These people, plus the corrupt government and our chaotic, fragile social system, made the “hands of God” jargon seem like wishful thinking.
I was never fully involved in the reconstruction of Aceh, but I have often visited in the past year to help friends organising assistance programs in the province. My experience, my relationship and interaction with various parties, all have helped to map out a number of pressing issues in the recovery process in Aceh and Nias.
Wartawan Tempo sejak 1998. Menjelajah berbagai desk, antara lain ekonomi, nasional, kesehatan, sains, gaya hidup, dan investigasi. Sejak Januari 2009 ditugasi menjadi Direktur Eksekutif Institut Tempo, sebuah lembaga yang dicita-citakan menjadi pusat pengembangan jurnalistik di Indonesia. Lulusan Fakultas Biologi, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, tahun 1996. Setelah lulus kuliah, bergabung dengan Majalah Warta Ekonomi (1996) sebagai staf riset dan kemudian menjadi reporter di majalah Panji Masyarakat (1997).