In Aceh, building peace amid building pains

Back in Banda Aceh, the sizzling economy shows no sign of slowing. At the Honda dealership, sales manager Saifullah can't get enough new motorbikes to meet demand, which almost doubled last year to 7,200 units. Honda has added two more city showrooms since the tsunami, and beefed up its presence in rural districts. "We had a good business after the tsunami. People need motorbikes," he says.

Sustaining that boom will require both prudent governance and a pickup in private investment, say economists. Under the peace accord, Aceh will receive a much greater share of tax receipts from Jakarta as well as a larger share of its natural-resource output. But with local government enfeebled by long periods of military rule as well as the tsunami, it may prove difficult to put that money to proper use. Investors are likely to remain cautious while GAM transforms itself into a political party ahead of local and national elections in 2009.

Such calculations seems far away, though, from the tiled front porch where Zulkifar Syamsuddin sits playing with his 4-month-old son.

Unlike most survivors in his neighborhood, near the fishing port of Lampulo, he has been able to move back to his original house, after repairing the damage. He's back at work at the port as a government inspector, and is tickled by the arrival of his first child.

From his porch, Mr. Zulkifar can see the workman finishing a new primary school donated by Coca-Cola that will open next month. Just past the school is a spacious clinic sponsored by Honda. Several new houses are under construction.

But it's the building two doors away that is the most eye-catching. Atop a ruined house sits a 60-ft. wooden boat, one of scores that were carried inland by the tsunami.

Two years ago, Zulkifar climbed from a second-floor balcony into the boat to escape the rising waters, together with 56 other terrified men, women, and children. "Everywhere was emptiness, only water. It was difficult to think straight. So we just prayed," he recalls.

After the tragedy, Zulkifar proposed to his girlfriend, Nurhayadi, and they married in September. But she balked at his suggestion to hold the reception inside the stranded boat. So their wedding photos show them standing in front of its hulking presence, but at a distance.

Zulkifar says he's not fixated on the past, as he bounces his baby on his knee. "If we think of our sadness, we'll feel sad. We have to leave the sadness behind and think of the future," he says.

Human Toll

Indonesia: 167,736 people killed or missing

Sri Lanka: 35,322 killed

India: 18,045 killed or missing

Thailand: 8,212 killed

Somalia: 289 killed or missing

Maldives: 108 killed

Malaysia: 75 killed or missing

Burma (Myanmar): 61 killed

Tanzania: 13 killed

Seychelles, Bangladesh: 2 killed

Kenya: 1 killed

Other costs

Number of people who lost livelihood: 1.5 million

Number of people displaced: 2.1 million

Ratio of women and children killed to men killed: 3:1

Total damages: $10.73 billion

Source: Reuters and UN Office of the Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery

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