Nias team wants building destroyed

Nias team wants building destroyed Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan
An internal audit of the Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR) has found that several post-tsunami projects in the regency fail to meet with standard building requirements.
The audit recommends the demolition of these projects, which were undertaken by BRR's partners, and contractors.
Based on BRR data, these included two community health centers in South Nias, a penitentiary in Gunung Sitoli, 58 houses in Botohilitano village, Teluk Dalam, South Nias, and another 38 houses in Siheneasi village, Lahewa.
Manager of the Quality Assurance (QA) inspection team, Agus Suroso, said the second-rate buildings were those constructed in 2005, while those built in 2006 were still under audit.
Agus said his office had recommended that BRR immediately demolish the buildings.
"We have sent caution letters requiring the contractors who built the defective buildings to demolish them and rebuild them according to the required standards," he said.
Nias BRR spokesman Imanuel Migo said starting this year, the QA team would conduct building inspections in stages, during planning, construction and upon completion.
The new inspection method differed from the previous method, in which assessments were conducted only after a building's completion, Imanuel said.
"Starting this year, the QA team will examine every stage of a project, including the tender process," he told The Jakarta Post in Medan, North Sumatra.
The team will also have the authority to audit the financial condition of each partner or contractor undertaking BRR projects.
"We have given wide authorization for the QA team to carry out its tasks for the sake of a better Nias," Imanuel said.
He said around 5,000 of a total of 15,000 houses still needed to be build by 2009 for people displaced by the December 2004 tsunami.
Nias community figure Restu Gulo said that based on observations conducted on the western coast of Nias, many areas affected by the tsunami were yet to be redeveloped.
"Many areas in West Mandrehe district have not been restored. These are worst-hit areas, where the death toll was at its highest," he said.
Among the areas untouched by reconstruction efforts, Restu said, were the villages of Onozalukhu You, Hilisoomi, Lakholi, Hiliwamumu, Hiligoe, Sitolu Banua, Fadoro, Iraonogambo, Lasara Baene and Tugalagawu hamlet bordering Alasa district.
Restu expressed hope that neglected areas would be prioritized in the reconstruction process so as to alleviate the peoples' suffering.