Script:

When the Tsunami hit the North East shore of Sumatra in Indonesia, it wiped out everything up to two kilometres inland. Local fishing communities in Aceh Besar district found themselves cut off. The eight kilometers of road connecting them to the rest of the island was gone.

A new project is underway to rebuild it.

Rina Sari, Public Works Department, Indonesian government

The construction of the road is very important to the people in this area. With this road they will be able to access all their economic activities easily.

In consultation with the government, the International Labour Organization set up a pilot project to rebuild the road. It uses a labour intensive technique which minimises equipment needs and creates much needed jobs for local villagers.

Eav Kong, ILO labour-based expert

We provide the employment opportunity for the victims of the Tsunami. At the same time we are building the capacity of the government officer and the small-scale contractor.

Using a sustainable technique called Macadam, workers can build a kilometre of road in six weeks for a fraction of what it would cost to build a conventional asphalt road.

The technique can be easily taught to unskilled labour and the ILO has trained 300 workers and contractors from the region and generated nearly 8,000 days of work.

Zain Usman, vice-director of CV Sela Rizki Bersaudara contractor

With the training we have received, we can avoid mistakes in building the roads. My hope as a contractor, and as someone who lives here, is to have the funds to continue to rebuild more areas in Aceh.

More work is on the way. The ILO has secured funding for an additional 130 kilometres of district road.

The tragedy of the Tsunami will be difficult to overcome, but slowly over time, the people of Aceh province are building the roads to recovery.