Nurture tsunami memory to save next generations T Ahmad Dadek  ;   The writer, the head of the West Aceh Development Planning Board, earlier led the regency’s disaster agency and was the district head of Johan Pahlawan, one of the worst hit areas in Meulaboh; A number of his family members including his mother were never found following the December 2004 disaster

JAKARTA POST,  23 Desember 2014

                                                                                                                       

Ten years have elapsed but it remains fresh in my mind how, on that fateful day, hysteria, screams and panic overwhelmed me and other people around the mosque on which we pinned all our hopes, as an earthquake and tsunami not only engulfed us but also overturned our reason and logic. Nobody knew what happened and why ocean waves could soar that high and so huge. Agonizing cries lamented dead bodies of loved ones with which nothing could be done because we were all helpless and had to save ourselves, amid screams of youngsters separated from their parents. With the passing decade, the earthquake and tsunami have taught the Aceh population patience and resignation to whatever outcomes arise from the tragedy, to gratitude for the blessings ensuing from the devastation. One of the godsends is the peace born of the calamity, which aroused the conscience of the once warring parties in Aceh. However, can we still recall all the consequences arising from the earthquake and tsunami in 2004, if the disaster recurs within a century or millennium? Can we still foster our spirit and strength to face such a catastrophe? Suggested reasons of the tragedy have included accumulation of collective crime and vice, a divine warning or ordeal, a regular but unpredictable geological disaster and a preventable disaster to be accepted with various attempts to reduce its risks. Minimizing the risks of a future disaster is the right solution. In 1907, a tsunami hit the island of Simeulue, southern Aceh, enabling locals to learn to identify natural signs they call smong, which prompt them to escape to the highlands when major tremors with tsunami potential occur. Yet, up to the end of 2004, such local wisdom was confined to Simeulue, without influencing the culture of Meulaboh city, West Aceh, which is only an hour’s flight or a 12-hour ferry trip from the island. Despite decades of cultural and emotion ties between both communities, smong didn’t form part of the wisdom of Meulaboh, let alone Aceh. In 2004, Simeulue people in Meulaboh and Banda Aceh tried to warn residents of both cities to abandon coastal areas after the earthquake, only to be regarded as crazy and unreasonable. Consequently, a large number of those ignoring such wisdom became victims of the tsunami, while all the natives of Simeulue survived the devastation. A study by McKenzie in Meulaboh that was based on soil samples around Samatiga and Meulaboh has proven that an earthquake and tsunami of the 2004 intensity hit the western coast of Aceh once before, with a recurrence estimate of at least once in 600 years. The study on seismic hazard assessment concluded that several other tsunamis had occurred in West Aceh waters at different intervals, according to the soil deposits left by the high waves. The scientific and field survey results support the earthquake records in the religious and historical manuscripts in Aceh, such as the 8.4-magnitude quake in the Indian Ocean (Mentawai and Padang areas) in Sya’ban 1211 H (in the Islamic calendar, or February 1797), causing a tsunami in the western coastal waters of Sumatra. The Tanoh Abee manuscripts mention the second major quake on Jumadil Akhir 9, 1248 H (Nov. 3, 1832). Five years later in September 1837, during the reign of Sultan Muhammad Syah (1824-1838), the Dutch recorded another quake in Aceh with its epicenter in its western waters. In the same century, tectonic tremors jolted Singkil city (western Aceh) in 1861, ruining Dutch infrastructure built in 1852. Therefore, what was referred to as pasir karam (submerged sand) by the Aceh historian Zainuddin may have had to do with the frequent quakes and tsunamis in Aceh’s waters. Meulaboh’s history also indicates that the city was originally called Pasir Karam, which may have been connected with earlier major tsunamis. Since my childhood, locals have talked about Ie Beuna, very high waves like smong or tsunami, but the words remain mere folklore. So, can we preserve the quake and tsunami history to reduce the existing risks ,so that it forms part of the culture of future generations? I’m not sure. First, Meulaboh, Banda Aceh and Calang (Aceh Jaya) have failed to relocate the cities farther away from their coastlines. Banda Aceh at the time attempted to design its city layout with rows of bamboo clusters as a fortress to lessen tsunami risks. Meulaboh also planned to vacate the areas 500 to 1,000 meters from the shore, but the plan failed as the administrations couldn’t afford to relocate a large number of people, while the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency for Aceh and Nias (BRR Aceh-Nias) and the central government imposed the cost on the region, although finally the BRR procured land for relocation. The failure was also worsened by the belief that tsunamis would only recur in the coming centuries, as if the present generation had no links with its posterity, and ironically no ability to empathize with the possible similar fate of future generations. Tsunami recurrence is just a matter of time, while history has sufficiently offered the reality of tsunami prevalence. In Simeulue everybody knows the phenomenon as smong and in Meulaboh people have Ie Beuna as the equivalent. The post office, immigration office, several schools and trade centers in Meulaboh remain standing where they have been, but only time will tell whether they need to be moved. The second issue is that preparations tend to be a program than part of the local culture. In Banda Aceh, for instance, when an earthquake of over 8 in magnitude shook the city on April 11, 2012, residents had to urge the government to remove permanent road medians as they faced difficulty in evacuating with or without vehicles. Portable plastic medians were placed instead to facilitate their escape. Vertical buildings for public escape are improperly maintained and their use is less popularized to society. In Meulaboh, evacuation buildings take the form of two-story shops donated by foreign NGOs on the condition that their second floors are for evacuees. There was once a request to build other structures upstairs, which could have negated the buildings’ rescue function. The existing schools for disaster alertness have tended to serve the activity of organizations that are not part of the schools’ culture of vigilance, so that their independent escape simulation practice is quite minimal. The third drawback is that the plans already made tend to become documents of anticipation without being scrutinized, let alone practiced for simulation. Contingency plans that should bind all relevant parties are reduced to mere schemes so that when floods occur, those in charge blame each other and work individually. The organizations committed to disaster control are not systematically bound through simulation and coordinated meetings, but are rather just left to work on their own by utilizing the media for boosting their image. What should be done to maintain the quake and tsunami memories? First, it’s the culture that counts, not only the programs. It means that disaster risk reduction should not only be the activity of the government and NGOs but it should become the spirit of local culture, which can only be realized by intensifying simulations and enhancing the early warning system at all times to keep up public awareness of any emergency. Second, clear signboards are urgent. People visiting Banda Aceh or Meulaboh today never knew the heights of waves in 2004 so that signs should be put up on street corners to warn them. The distance from the sea to evacuation places should be clear, such as the 7-km safety zone during the 2004 tsunami. Many symbols can be utilized to retain public memories of the tsunami tragedy. Third, scientists can be among those who issue necessary warnings, as they are capable of convening quarterly conferences to deal with whatever potential triggers for future quake and tsunami threats, and give a word of caution regarding the government’s development policy, while warning the public against any attitude which is not oriented to disaster risk reduction. Are we prepared to face the next earthquake and tsunami? Historically and scientifically tsunamis will be recurring within 10 to 600 years or even 1,000 years. But history also proves that the calamity will just be a legend when it comes to the range of 600-1,000 years, like the case of Meulaboh with its Ie Beuna, which shows us how we are prone to forget what happened in the past.  ●