Achmad Sukarsono, Banda Aceh – Aid groups, foreign armies and Indonesian officials have prevented disease and starvation from engulfing tsunami-hit Aceh province, but closer cooperation is needed to rebuild shattered livelihoods, government and aid officials said.

Having escaped diseases such as malaria, measles and cholera, survivors of the massive waves that swept ashore exactly six weeks ago to kill nearly 115,000 people and leave another 130,000 missing are now looking for work.

"There is light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel is dark and sad," said David Nabarro, the World Health Organization's crisis chief, referring to Aceh's rebuilding.

Getting back to work is near the top of the priority list for Aceh's residents, including more than 400,000 living in makeshift outdoor camps after the magnitude 9 earthquake and accompanying tsunami washed away their homes on December 26.

Many, including the province's fishermen, also lost their livelihoods. Rice paddies turned to swamps in what was one of Indonesia's least-developed areas even before the tsunami hit.

The US and Australian military, Chinese healers, Scientologists and Islamic militants were among the various groups that flocked to help Aceh when the Indonesian government opened up the gas-rich province, where it has been fighting a near 30-year battle with separatist rebels.

The first target – preventing a second wave of death from disease and starvation – has been achieved. But aid officials say the logistical problems that have hampered distribution could stifle efforts to rebuild Aceh's infrastructure.

"We have prevented [disease] outbreaks by getting all the different groups to follow the same basic principle [supplying food, medicine and shelter]," Nabarro told Reuters on a trip to Aceh this week. "But that was the easy part."

Bad organization

Government data on Sunday showed there were 908 medical volunteers representing 85 international and local organizations currently in Aceh. "To say the organization has been perfect would not be the truth," said James Lorenz, spokesman in Aceh for medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders).

Officials said children in some camps had been vaccinated several times against measles and other diseases, while those in other camps had yet to be immunized.

Aid groups had also stockpiled food at certain camps but delivered nothing to others. Some camps had rice but no cooking equipment; others had cooking equipment but no rice, they said.

They also said extra surgeons were no longer needed in Aceh, as serious injuries had already been treated. What was needed instead are public health officials and midwives.

As survivors look to return to work, the main challenge is now to encourage closer cooperation between aid groups and the Indonesian government, the WHO's Nabarro said, to ensure vital tasks and scarce resources are better allocated.

In a sign this might be happening, the United Nations on Friday for the first time held its briefing at the government's mansions in Aceh, rather than on its own compound.

Indonesian officials consider it a positive sign that so many Acehnese appear willing to return to work. "The spirit is climbing. People are lining up, asking for work," said Aceh's deputy governor, Azwar Abubakar, who lost his wife in the tsunami. "Previously, we thought people were knocked down, messed up."

Aware that restlessness would soon affect those living in the camps, foreign relief agencies began hiring people to help with the clean-up weeks ago. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is one of several aid groups to launch employment programs expected to attract thousands.

"This will inject money into the economy immediately, as people will receive a daily wage," said Mieke Kooistra, the UNDP's spokeswoman in Aceh.

For grieving survivors, like 45-year-old Anwar Arifin, who lost his wife and four of his five children to the waves, the only way to move on is by working. "After one month, I now feel the urge to build a new life," Arifin told Reuters earlier this week.

[Additional reporting by Telly Nathalia]