Tsunami Recovery in Indonesia: Acehnese Communities Take to the Airwaves

This article explores how community-based radio programmes are helping to share information and encourage two-way communication in Indonesia to help with reconstruction efforts following the December 2004 tsunami that struck the country. According to this article, the tsunami destroyed Aceh's media infrastructure, so the Aceh Emergency Radio Network (AERnet) was established soon after the tsunami to meet people's information and communications needs. The network was later renamed Aceh Reconstruction Radio Network (ARRnet) to reflect the transition from emergency to reconstruction.

This network 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.

Following the tsunami, the airwaves in Aceh were virtually empty and few displaced people had access to radio sets. Radio sets were distributed in temporary camps and special programmes were broadcast for listeners, providing entertainment, information, and interactive talk shows. Some ARRnet stations also now broadcast talk shows based on a World Bank-supported reconstruction newsletter, Ceureumen, funded through the Decentralization Support Facility. These programmes are produced and relayed via satellite by Internews, a media development non-governmental organisation (NGO) working on capacity building programmes for local media.

According to the article, ARRnet is building 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.

The aim of the network is to facilitate a two–way exchange between survivors and villagers, donors and governments through these stations in tsunami affected areas. "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 programme. 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.