Anger Mounts as Indonesians Raise Pale Banners Amid Delayed Flood Assistance

For weeks, desperate and upset locals in the nation's westernmost region have been displaying flags of surrender due to the government's delayed aid efforts to a wave of fatal inundations.

Triggered by a unusual weather system in November, the flooding resulted in the death of over 1,000 people and made homeless a vast number across the island of Sumatra island. In Aceh, the hardest-hit region which represented almost 50% of the fatalities, a great number still do not have easy access to safe drinking water, supplies, power and medicine.

An Official's Emotional Outburst

In a indication of just how difficult coping with the situation has become, the leader of North Aceh broke down publicly recently.

"Does the national government be unaware of [our plight]? It's incomprehensible," a emotional Ismail A Jalil declared publicly.

Yet Leader the President has refused foreign aid, maintaining the circumstances is "being handled." "The nation is capable of overcoming this disaster," he advised his government last week. The President has also to date overlooked appeals to designate it a national emergency, which would release emergency funds and facilitate recovery operations.

Increasing Discontent of the Government

The leadership has grown more scrutinised as reactive, disorganised and out of touch – terms that certain observers say have come to define his presidency, which he was elected to in last February based on people-focused commitments.

Even in his first year, his flagship expensive free school meals scheme has been embroiled in scandal over mass contamination incidents. In the latter part of the year, thousands of Indonesians demonstrated over unemployment and rising living expenses, in what were some of the most significant public displays the country has experienced in many years.

And now, his government's response to the recent floods has emerged as a further challenge for the president, even as his poll numbers have stayed high at about 78%.

Heartfelt Appeals for Assistance

Last Thursday, dozens of demonstrators gathered in Banda Aceh, the city, displaying white flags and demanding that the government in Jakarta allows the way to international aid.

Standing in the crowd was a small girl carrying a piece of paper, which said: "I am only a toddler, I wish to live in a secure and stable world."

Although normally regarded as a emblem for surrender, the pale banners that have been raised throughout the region – upon collapsed roofs, beside washed-away banks and outside mosques – are a call for global solidarity, protesters say.

"These banners do not mean we are surrendering. They are a cry for help to capture the attention of allies abroad, to show them the conditions in here currently are extremely dire," stated one participant.

Whole villages have been eradicated, while broad destruction to transport links and facilities has also cut off a lot of people. Those affected have described disease and hunger.

"For how much longer must we bathe in mud and contaminated water," cried another demonstrator.

Provincial authorities have contacted the UN for assistance, with the local official announcing he welcomes support "without conditions".

The government has stated recovery work are in progress on a "national scale", stating that it has allocated about a significant sum (billions of dollars) for reconstruction work.

Calamity Strikes Again

Among residents in the province, the situation evokes painful memories of the 2004 tsunami, among the worst natural disasters on record.

A powerful ocean earthquake triggered a tsunami that created waves reaching 100 feet high which hit the Indian Ocean coastline that morning, claiming an believed two hundred thirty thousand people in in excess of a dozen countries.

The province, previously affected by a long-running strife, was among the hardest-hit. Survivors say they had barely finished rebuilding their communities when disaster returned in November.

Assistance was delivered more promptly after the 2004 disaster, even though it was much more catastrophic, they say.

Many countries, multilateral agencies like the World Bank, and NGOs donated billions of dollars into the relief operation. The Jakarta then created a special office to manage funds and aid projects.

"Everyone acted and the people bounced back {quickly|