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Update as of 16 June
2006
Reconstruction
| An integrated approach to reconstruction
in Indonesia |
Rebuilding Sri Lanka and coastal conservation | Reconstructing
housing in a vulnerable island nation |
Latest operational developments |
Printable version (PDF Document - 289kb - 7 pages)
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Previous facts
sheets
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| Reconstruction
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While construction work is being undertaken in other
tsunami-affected countries where the Red Cross and Red Crescent
is responding to community needs the focus of this fact
sheet is on large-scale housing reconstruction projects
in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
Eighteen months after
the earthquake and tsunami took tens of thousands of lives
across the Indian Ocean and beyond to the shores of Africa,
causing destruction along the shorelines in its path, the
reconstruction programme in the three most-affected countries
of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives is well underway.
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| Settling
in: at home in a new Federation-built house, Guraidhoo
Island, Maldives. These homes are built to a far higher
construction standard than average housing and are
specifically designed to give added protection to
natural disasters that may arise in the future. Photo:
International Federation (p14133) |
In Indonesia, of the 21,882
houses planned nearly 2,400 are in construction or are completed.
Although many tsunami-affected people remain in transitional
shelters, the quality of these has improved greatly; many
others have moved into new homes. Red Cross Red Crescent
Movement reconstruction activities ongoing in Aceh and Nias
provides only a snapshot of a broad range of projects underway
to help the host national society contribute to the re-building
of lives, homes and communities across the tsunami and earthquake-damaged
areas of Aceh and Nias. Detailed reports on reconstruction
progress can be found in the last Operations
Updates no. 59 published in the tsunami section on www.ifrc.org.
The tsunami had a massive
impact on Sri Lanka’s infrastructure destroying and
damaging water and sanitation facilities, roads, railways,
and thousands of homes along two thirds of the coastline.
The Government of Sri Lanka Reconstruction and Development
Agency (RADA) figures show that 70,637 houses were completely
destroyed and a further 30,839 were partially damaged, requiring
therefore the complete reconstruction and repair of some
101,476 houses. In total, the Red Cross Red Crescent is
managing construction of over 2,350 homes and 190 have been
completed so far.
In the Maldives,
the logistical difficulty of transporting building materials
and construction equipment by boat over hundreds of kilometres
of ocean has been immense as has the challenge of finding
sufficient labour to work on construction sites. Even so
progress continues apace and, of the 784 houses planned
in the island nation, 49 have been completed while another
61 are under construction. |
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| An
integrated approach to reconstruction in Indonesia |
The reconstruction programme
in Aceh Province and on Nias Island is now well underway.
Partner national societies (PNS) present in Indonesia
to support the Indonesian Red Cross (Palang Merah Indonesia/PMI)
are working in a coordinated International Movement framework
to build 21,882 houses across Aceh and Nias, of which
2,359 are completed or in construction to date. Land title
verification, settlement planning, community consultations
and housing design are actively underway for the total
remaining target number of homes to be built.
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| Map of all
PNS construction projects underway in Aceh Province
of Indonesia. Click on the map to enlarge |
The physical and procedural
barriers that have been causing long delays are gradually
being overcome. Geotechnical surveys are determining where
houses can safely be constructed after the earthquake
altered the face of the devastated coastlines. The government’s
Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency, BRR, is lending
its support to the resolution of difficult and arduous
land claims issues after ownership titles were washed
away on that calamitous day.
Where the Red Cross
Red Crescent Movement has committed to reconstruction
projects, beneficiary communities are now intensively
involved in the decisions on settlement planning, disaster
risk reduction and the selection of individual homes from
the range of housing models designed in consultation with
prospective new homeowners.
Within the broader range
of recovery projects underway within the Movement framework,
14 national societies have committed funds and personnel
to the reconstruction of damaged and destroyed communities.
While the majority of that effort is focused on housing,
the holistic approach agreed at the outset is being well
realized.
The many examples of
this integrated approach include the American Red Cross
provision of water and sanitation technical and material
resources to ensure that identified villages being re-built
by PNS can prosper in a hygienic environment. Another
highlight: the expertise in livelihoods programming and
land title verification engendered by the British Red
Cross is complementing the Australian Red Cross housing
project on Pulau Aceh, the island just offshore the city
of Banda Aceh.
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| Pria Laot,
1 June 2006 – first day of a new German Red
Cross-built community on the island of Pulau Weh
north of Banda Aceh. Photo: International Federation
(p14137) |
The Movement’s
reconstruction projects are not just limited to building
houses. Across the tsunami-affected area of Aceh and on
earthquake-damaged Nias Island, PNS are erecting other
structures that help to re-create not just homes, but
communities. The French Red Cross is building schools
in Pidie district and on Nias, and rehabilitating five
traditional market areas on Nias. The German Red Cross:
schools in Aceh Jaya, Aceh Besar, Banda Aceh and on the
island of Pulau Weh. The Hong Kong branch of the Red Cross
Society of China: elementary and high schools in Aceh
Utara, and 27 health facilities in that district to be
completed this month. Swiss Red Cross: an orphanage and
boarding school in Banda Aceh and a high school in Pidie.
A Turkish Red Crescent community centre in Banda Aceh
opens this month, with a specialty on providing professional
psychosocial counseling and training PMI volunteers to
continue psychosocial programmes for the long term.
The Canadian Red Cross
is progressing with its integrated, community-based approach
to re-create 62 villages in Aceh Besar, Aceh Jaya and
Nias. The approach includes a full spectrum of activities,
beginning with community consultation, surveying and procedural
support for land title verification, spatial planning,
disaster risk mitigation, and the process of helping people
choose and customize their choice among four home models,
all of which are expandable by design. Additionally, the
Canadian Red Cross will build health facilities, schools
and meneusah (traditional Islamic community centres) if
no other donor is identified to meet those needs.
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| The first 51
of 317 houses to be built by the French Red Cross
were handed over to beneficiaries in Benteng and Blang
Paseh, in Indonesia, in May. Photo: International
Federation (p14138) |
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| Rebuilding
Sri Lanka and coastal conservation |
Critical to Sri Lanka’s
housing reconstruction plan has been the so called “buffer
zone”, a 100 to 200 metre “no build zone”
declared by the Government post-tsunami, in 2005. An existing
“no build zone”, defined in the revised Coast
Conservation Act (CCA) of 1997, aimed to protect the coastline
by preventing permanent construction within 35 to 125
metres of the coastline; however small fishing communities,
businesses and squatters had been living in this restricted
area for many years. Enforcement of the post-tsunami “buffer
zone” prohibited affected communities from reconstructing
their homes on existing sites and, as a result, a large
proportion of the affected population was forced to relocate
to areas further from the sea.
To meet relocation needs
the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement was allocated land
outside the “no build zone”. However, in late
2005 due to pressure exerted by humanitarian actors and
civil society over the lack of available and suitable
land for reconstruction, in particular for fishing communities
requiring access to the sea, the government reverted back
to the revised CCA Act.
Types of reconstruction
- resettlement and reconstruction
The impact of this buffer
zone policy change is reflected in the proportion of houses
built under each of the two main methods of home reconstruction
in Sri Lanka:
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Resettlement for
families whose tsunami destroyed home lies within the
revised buffer zone, a largely donor driven programme
where donors construct houses in consultation with the
community.
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Reconstruction
for families able to reconstruct on their own land.
The programme is primarily owner driven, where affected
households receive grants and support to rebuild their
own homes.
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| Construction
of one of 52 homes being built by the Belgian Red
Cross and the Luxemburg Red Cross, in Beruwala,
Sri Lanka. Photo: International Federation (p14139) |
To adjust to the emerging
needs of beneficiaries now able to relocate to land first
demarcated under the no-construction zone, it is likely
that houses planned under the “resettlement”
programmes, requiring a move away from the home owner’s
original location, will be built under the “reconstruction”
programme on owners land.
Red Cross Red Crescent
commitments
The Movement initially
planned to construct up to 15,000 houses on land beyond
the 100 to 200 metre buffer zone. While the actual number
of households requiring relocation outside the buffer
zone remains unclear, the Movement is taking steps to
ensure that tsunami affected populations permitted to
rebuild on their own land now have that option and the
necessary technical and financial support.
The Red Cross Red
Crescent has significantly increased its commitment
to owner driven housing through two-tiered support to
a government led owner driven housing project:
1. The Movement
has committed USD 25 million to support construction
of up to 10,000 houses via the World Bank International
Development Agency which supports a government grant
scheme providing financial assistance for reconstruction
of partially and fully damaged houses.
2. In partnership
with UN Habitat, the Movement is providing “top
up” grants and technical support to households
that have already received financial support under the
government’s existing owner driven housing programme
that has the potential to support construction of an
additional 7,000 or more homes.
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| Red Cross
Red Crescent construction site in Matara where
18 houses have been built and are now ready for
occupation. Photo: International Federation (p14136) |
Red Cross Red Crescent
housing commitment and progress
As of 31 May 2006,
under the donor driven programme, the Movement has been
allocated 71 sites in 11 districts across Sri Lanka,
for construction of over 8,000 houses (including some
donor driven reconstruction on own land). Construction
of over 2,350 homes is underway and 190 have been completed.
USD 10 million has been handed over to the International
Development Agency in support of owner driven construction;
and by the end of July, 300 households will start receiving
reconstruction support under the UN HABITAT partnership.
| Donor driven housing |
+/-15,000 |
| International Development
Agency - World Bank |
+/- 10,000 |
| UNHABITAT partnership |
+/- 15,000 |
Security
The deteriorating
security situation in the north and east of Sri Lanka
is posing a major challenge to the housing construction
programme. In some areas staff movement is often suspended
as a precautionary measure due to general unrest, tension
and uncertainty. Construction sites have been made inaccessible
and some contractors are reluctant or afraid to travel
to particularly tense areas. Contingency plans are under
development involving possible withdrawal to less volatile
areas and remoter control of owner driven housing via
a skeleton staff. A recent government ban on the transport
of construction materials to and through the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam controlled region may result on
a shortage of construction materials in those areas
and will significantly impact progress.
Health infrastructure,
water and sanitation, schools, disaster management
The Movement has committed
to reconstructing and rehabilitating up to 61 health
facilities. Master plans, architectural and structural
designs and engineering cost estimates are under preparation
for 14 health facilities and three temporary nurse training
facilities have been set up to accommodate up to 250
students each and support the government’s drive
to train 15,000 nurses by 2015.
Major water sanitation
infrastructure programmes are ongoing to improve access
to water and hygiene facilities across the island. A
project to connect nine new settlements to an existing
water pipeline is currently in progress. Two settlements
have been completed so far and more than 85 water tanks
have been constructed or upgraded to improve access
to safe drinking water. Over 4,600 wells have been constructed
or rehabilitated to ensure sustainable access to water
and to reduce the need for tanked water and over 100
latrines constructed for people living in transitional
shelters.
A National Disaster
Management Centre is also under construction that will
serve as the focal point for disaster management training
and response by the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS).
The Movement will also support reconstruction of nine
schools.
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| Reconstructing
housing in a vulnerable island nation |
The Federation has made significant
progress reconstructing houses in the Maldives in the
past few months, despite the challenge of working in a
country whose islands are dispersed over nearly 1,000
kilometres north to south.
A ceremony, attended
by the Maldives president and the special representative
of the Federation secretary general, took place in early
May to mark the start of construction on Raa Dhuvaafaru
(the “Green Island” project), the country’s
largest single tsunami related reconstruction project.
This previously uninhabited island is being entirely redeveloped
to house up to 4,000 displaced people who have been dispersed
from their home island of Kandoludhoo and are now spread
over five different islands. Reuniting them involves not
just the construction of 600 houses, but also all the
community facilities and infrastructure that the new community
will need.
Together with its national
society partners, the Federation will be building schools,
community centres, health clinics, parks, sporting facilities,
ports, harbours, sewage systems, and other necessary infrastructure.
The feasibility of using alternative energy sources to
meet the island’s energy needs is currently being
explored.
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| Aerial
view of Federation housing on Kudahuvadhoo Island,
Maldives.
Photo: International Federation (p14134) |
The first 35 out of
46 three-bedroom houses on Kaafu Guraidhoo, one of the
most severely tsunami affected communities in the country,
have been handed over to the community, as have 14 houses
on the island of Kaafu Maafushi. All these homes are built
to a far higher construction standard than most normal
housing in the Maldives, being specifically designed to
give added protection to natural disasters that may affect
the country in the future.
The logistical difficulty
of transporting building materials and construction equipment
by boat over hundreds of kilometres of ocean has been
immense. The challenge of finding sufficient labour to
work on construction sites has also hampered progress.
Even so, 61 houses on two islands (Dhaalu Kudahuvadhoo
and Kaafu Guraidhoo) will be complete by the end of June.
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| Construction
and new house in Guraidhoo Island, one of the most
severely affected communities in the Maldives. Photo:
International Federation (p14135) |
When those displaced
by the tsunami move into their new homes, it will be the
culmination of a long process of community participation.
Families were consulted on the construction and design
of their home and, in the case of some homes, beneficiaries
are able to choose wall colour, tiling and the option
of three different floor plans.
Construction by French
and British Red Cross societies is also under way. Altogether,
some 2,000 homes will be built by the Red Cross Red Crescent
network in the Maldives.
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| Latest
operational developments |
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Phase I and
II of temporary shelter construction has been
completed; 156 blocks comprising a total of 1,133
apartments have been constructed.
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Some 15,500
rainwater harvesting kits have been distributed
to 79 islands, benefiting over 130,000 people.
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Supplementary
water supply systems have been installed and handed
over to communities in four islands and two temporary
reverse osmosis units are being used in the north
of the country, due to critical shortages in safe
drinking water.
- A working group for the establishment
of a Red Crescent society has been working for eight
months and has drawn up draft statutes. Promotional
visits to 20 Atolls have been made and 62 representatives
for the General Assembly have been elected.
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More
information on the tsunami operation |
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Disaster management
