A woman rides a motorcycle past the Aceh Tsunami Museum in Banda Aceh. Aceh's post-tsunami reconstruction has become a model for rebuilding disaster areas around the world. [Nurdin Hasan/Khabar]

The horrific tsunami that slammed Aceh on December 26th, 2004 destroyed more than 100,000 houses, public facilities, and businesses along 1,000km of the Aceh coastline, killed 170,000 people and displaced over 500,000.

With the support of the international community, Indonesia successfully rebuilt Aceh within four years, with upgraded roads and public facilities such as schools, hospitals, and government offices.

Aceh's successful reconstruction has become a global model for disaster management. Indonesia has shared its experiences with other countries impacted by natural disasters, including Haiti following the 2010 earthquake and Japan after its 2011 tsunami.

Now, it is prepared to share lessons learned with the Philippines, in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan.

Two women take a photograph of a boat that landed on a house in the village of Lampulo, Banda Aceh. The village was slammed by the 2004 tsunami. [Nurdin Hasan/Khabar]

The need for transparency

Three months after the tsunami, Indonesia formed a Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) for Aceh and Nias. A special team was established at the ministerial level to co-ordinate reconstruction, which was funded by development money from the state budget (APBN).

Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, former head of the BRR executive agency, told Khabar Southeast Asia that transparent processes and reporting led to the rebuilding success. With all budgets on the internet, there was no chance for corruption.

The world contribution to the rebuilding effort exceeded the $6.7m pledge, as $7.4m was donated, Kuntoro said.

"BRR provided full support for international volunteers. For example, we simplified some of the bureaucratic processes for international workers to get visas by building a BRR office in Banda Aceh," he said.

Nine years after the tsunami, Aceh is essentially back to normal. The streets in Banda Aceh are well-paved, including the 145km road from Banda Aceh to Calang built with support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Tsunami-like damage

Haiyan, which hit the Philippines on November 8th, has caused more than 5,200 deaths, with more than 1,600 people still missing and 5.2 million affected.

Asri Widjayanti, an Indonesian humanitarian worker who visited hard-hit Tacloban five days after the storm, said the damage was similar to that wrought by the tsunami.

But the Philippines reconstruction will be more organised thanks to experienced international workers, she added.

"The most important thing is co-ordination among agencies and stakeholders to ensure that aid is provided where needed and that efforts do not overlap. Transparency is very important during this processes," Asri told Khabar.

Kuntoro, now a senior development officer for the Indonesian government, left for Manila on November 25th, by invitation of the Philippine government, to provide input.

He said he would advise Manila to prepare special agencies that are free from political interference and abuse of authority to carry out post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts.

"The disaster occurred on an island, and therefore, logistics can be difficult. It is difficult to deliver essential items to victims. It is important to have a special agency that could work to facilitate and co-ordinate hundreds of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)," Kuntoro said.

Human need

The tsunami paralysed the Aceh government but local officials, academics and activists worked with the Jakarta government to co-ordinate reconstruction efforts – despite an armed separatist rebellion that had simmered in the province for decades.

Iskandar, head of the Aceh Investment and Promotion Board, stressed the importance of prioritising human need, especially providing victims with food, clean water, sanitation and health services.

"The government also should provide temporary shelter for the victims. In Aceh, temporary shelters were ready for the victims in the fourth month. They can use this shelter while waiting for house construction to be done," he told Khabar.

"During reconstruction, a strong and trusted leadership is required. The person must also be well-accepted by the national and international community, as well as by the victims," Iskandar said.