Tsunami recovery in Indonesia: Acehnese communities take to the airwaves

19 December 2005

As reconstruction efforts are underway in Aceh, so are efforts to restore a sense of normalcy and provide communities with information, news and entertainment.

The tsunami destroyed Aceh’s media infrastructure. The office of Radio Republik Indonesia in Aceh was a typical example. Some of the staff died, survivors lost family members and the entire ground floor of its studio complex was full of debris.

The Aceh Emergency Radio Network (AERnet) was established soon after the tsunami to meet people’s information and communications needs. This fledging network is special, as it consists of community-run and operated radio stations, which promote community dialogue, staffed by both local and internally displaced people working as volunteers.

Designed to give communities access to information about the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts, the network’s reporters, mostly young people, also share news with partnered networks, including Radio 68H, an independent public radio network, which syndicates local and national news and features.

Recently rechristened ARRnet to reflect the transition from emergency to reconstruction, the Aceh Reconstruction Radio Network has been working to make a difference in many local communities. For example, after the tsunami, the airwaves in Aceh Besar District were virtually empty and few displaced people had access to radio sets. AERnet’s SeHa FM distributed radio sets in temporary camps, and broadcast special programs for listeners, providing entertainment and information.

This station soon became popular, collecting up to 200 song requests coupons daily. Aside from music, the station now presents a range of regular programming such as interactive talk shows about health and religious programs. The broadcast reaches more than five sub-districts.

Radio Rakan (Radio Komunitas Aneuk Nanggroe) FM often conducts interviews with locals to gauge popular opinion on contemporary issues. It also covers local events live, such as the Acehnese Children’s Cultural Festival. Working with local non government organizations (NGOs), they have also presented on-air trauma counseling.

Some ARRnet stations also broadcast talk shows based on a Bank-supported reconstruction newsletter, Ceureumen, funded through the Decentralization Support Facility. These programs are produced and relayed via satellite by Internews, a media development NGO working on capacity building programs for local media.

Since many of the volunteer broadcasters for Samudera FM in Samudera Sub-district in Aceh Utara, are displaced people, the conditions and problems faced by people living in camps and barracks are regularly discussed.

“Community radio has helped me deal with my loss by becoming a reporter and being able to help the people in my community,” says Deden, a 23-year old Acehnese reporter, who lost her fiancée in the tsunami.

ARRnet builds and expands on the existing network of four fully functioning community radio stations and a fifth community radio station, which was rebuilt in Simeulue. It also has five non-radio nodes which are located within NGO command posts. All of these are able to relay news and information to the ARRnet hub in Banda Aceh, where it is uploaded directly to the internet.

The stations can also broadcast public service announcements and programming as part of large-scale information campaigns, together or individually, for a nominal fee to help cover operational costs.

More stations will be added next year. These stations are being set up in tsunami affected areas to facilitate a two -- way exchange between victims and villagers, donors and governments.

“Until now, communities have only had access to the governments and donors want to convey. Through radio, we hope to facilitate a two-way dialog between communities and other actors so that their needs and aspirations are met during the recovery phase,” explains Imam Prakoso, Director of COMBINE, the NGO responsible for implementing the ARRnet program.

This will be done through a network of information facilitators who will be hired at the district ad sub-district level. The use of “suitcase” or mobile radio is also being considered.

Community radio staff receives training from the implementing agency, as well as from other groups involved in media development. Internews has donated additional computers, mixers and cell phones to these stations to bolster their ability to report from the field.

Funded initially by Britain's Department for International Development and then the Japan Social Development Fund, ARRnet activities are implemented by COMBINE, an Indonesian NGO with extensive experience in community and grassroots media development. They are supported by JRKY (Jaringan Radio Komunitas Yogyakarta). The grant is managed by the Kecamatan Development Project, a well-established World Bank community-driven development program.