By Beh Lih Yi
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Tens of thousands of Indonesians are struggling to rebuild their lives a year after a powerful earthquake and tsunami caused widespread devastation, with many still homeless and schools unable to reopen, aid groups said on Saturday.
The city of Palu, on the island of Sulawesi, was devastated by a 7.5-magnitude earthquake and a tsunami it unleashed on Sept. 28 last year, killing more than 4,000 people.
Humanitarian aid poured in after the disaster but local charities said a year on, survivors were still living in makeshift accommodation and children could not return to schools, as they called for rebuilding efforts to be stepped up.
“Children long for a sense of normality,” said Dino Satria from the charity Save the Children Indonesia, which estimated that two-thirds of about 1,300 local schools were still damaged.
“They continue to be traumatised by the disaster as they cannot go back to schools, cannot return to their normal routine as a way to help them overcome their trauma,” the operation director told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from Palu.
Satria urged authorities to speed up reconstruction efforts, but a local education official said the task was enormous without sufficient funding, although rebuilding schools was a top priority.
“Sadly, we are restricted by a lack of funds. I need an additional $11 million just to rebuild the schools in Palu City. The task at hand is immense,” Ansyar Suitiadi, the head of education in Palu said in a statement by Save the Children.
