Urban Innovations and Best Practices: Earthquake and Tsunami Emergency Support Project (ETESP)

Abstract

Reconstruction and rehabilitation of housing in Aceh and Nias, Indonesia, which were destroyed by the dramatic earthquake and tsunami of 26 December 2004 (and a subsequent major earthquake in Nias on 28 March 2005), has become a major effort of a large number of international and Indonesian organizations. An unprecedented wave of pledges for assistance was made available, and numerous agencies—some of them without prior experience in housing construction—have contributed to reconstruction. As could be expected, the reconstruction process has been affected by numerous bottlenecks, and has been slower than intended. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) provided a package of grant financed assistance for the Government’s ambitious reconstruction and rehabilitation program under the Earthquake and Tsunami Emergency Support Project (ETESP). Among the 12 sectors earmarked for ADB assistance, the housing sector received the largest assistance which was implemented through on-budget and off-budget measures. When implementation picked up during 2006, concern for better quality, more integration with residential infrastructure, and additional livelihood support grew, since it is not only habitat which matters but reconstruction of lives and communities. The experiences of Aceh and Nias have been a testing ground for the massive application of community-driven development (CDD) which is meant to be the backbone of a sustainable development effort by the people themselves. At project completion in 2009, ADB has reviewed its own efforts in terms of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability. Lessons from the Aceh and Nias experience will influence future assistance not only in Indonesia but elsewhere in the region.