News on Blue Print No Longer a Headline

Mus has been trying to get by for 10 months by the bank of the Alue Naga Aceh River. This is
indeed a temporary residential area. So has M. Husen. Both feel that they cannot stand to live far from
the ocean. The ocean is not only their “rice field”, it is also their empire.
Based on such they persisted to stay in the village that, keeping in mind the Government
phrase for Red Zone, is named the Restricted Area. Restricted as in not allowing construction of
residential buildings.
Not only in Alue Naga, similar cases have also taken place within the area severely damaged
by the tsunami tidal waves. For example, in Krueng Raya, Lamteungoh Peukan Bada, Meulaboh,
Calang, Aceh Jaya, etc.
Therefore, it is not surprising that most of the victims ignore the restriction. This is because, no
matter what the situation is, their original villages are quite strategically located to survive in
accordance with their previous professions.
Mus realizes this issue. That is why the banks of Lamnyong River are considered highly
strategic for fishing, particularly when the location is at the hills of their villages.
Uninformed about the Blue Print
Aren’t they afraid that the Government would blame them for living nearby the ocean,
especially when there already are warnings? Most of the residents admitted that it is their choice. They
are not concerned with what is called the Blue Print. Some of them acknowledged that they have heard
about it.
“When our villages are completed, we certainly shall be forced to move. This is Government
property, while this is still an emergency, thus we shall remain here,” stated Husen. “The Government
may prohibit us from living nearby the ocean, but this is what we all want.”
However, until now, they consider it as rumors spread by certain people. “We once heard that
it is prohibited to build houses 2 kilometers from the shore. However, there many people in Ulee Lheue
and Peukan Bada, Aceh Besar, violating such regulation,” Mus added again.
The residents of Ulee Lheue and Peukan Bada and the other offshore villages are indeed
correct. The rumors about blue print sounded sonorant in the beginning. However, at the very first
moment the Head of BRR Aceh Nias, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto stepped on the land of the tsunami, he
stated that the “Blue print is not final.”
Photo-caption: A bird-eye view of Calang town seen from an airplane. Calang town shall move
approximately 8 kilometers inwards towards the land for town expansion and simultaneously avoiding
damages to the town should there be another tsunami.