Sri Wahyuni, Yogyakarta – Uswatun Khasanah hugged her 9-month-old daughter Revi close to her chest. As the 25-year-old mother wrapped a blanket around the baby girl, she kept a wary eye on the rain pouring down in front of their makeshift shelter.
Her husband Singgir, 40, was busy covering a thin mattress, the only one they own, with plastic to protect it from the rain being blown in by the gusting wind. "I have to use the plastic or the water will soak the entire mattress," said Singgir, as he prepared a warm spot for his daughter.
A moment later he was using a piece of bamboo to get rid of the puddles of accumulated water on the tarpaulin that serves as their roof, before the flimsy shelter totally gave way. "It looks like we'll have to stay up all night again unless the rain stops," he said softly to his wife, who nodded tiredly.
Like thousands of others, the family has been living in a makeshift shelter since a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck on May 27, 2006. The quake killed nearly 6,000 people and displaced almost 1.5 million in Yogyakarta province and parts of Central Java.
"Since the start of the rainy season earlier this month, we are often forced to stay awake all night so we can stay on guard in case something bad happens," Singgir told The Jakarta Post.
Singgir and his family live in Sumbermulyo village in Bambanglipuro subdistrict, Bantul regency, about 20 kilometers south of Yogyakarta city. He said none of the earthquake survivors in his neighborhood had finished rebuilding their flattened homes.
Government reconstruction money has arrived in the area, but most of those who have started rebuilding their homes have only gotten as far as laying a new foundation.
The Yogyakarta provincial administration, which is overseeing post-quake reconstruction in the province, has said it will provide Rp 15 million for each family whose house was destroyed in the earthquake.
Many people, particularly residents of Bantul regency, which suffered the brunt of the quake damage, have only received about 40 percent of the promised Rp 15 million, leaving them just enough money to lay the foundation.
"With the money, we are actually expected to be able to lay the foundation and build the walls of the house up to a meter high. But because of the skyrocketing prices of construction materials, we can only lay the foundation. If you don't have money of your own, you can't build the walls, much less complete the entire house," Singgir said.
As a result, thousands of displaced families in Yogyakarta are still living in temporary shelters, usually consisting of little more than a tarpaulin set up as a roof on the foundations of their new homes.
One of the reasons so many people are living in these makeshift shelters is the government's decision not to provide quake survivors with transitional shelters, instead focusing on getting them directly into permanent houses.
While some donor countries and non-government organizations have provided survivors with transitional shelters, there are not nearly enough for all those displaced from their homes in the quake.
According to a recent survey by a national team set up by the central government on July 3 to coordinate post-quake reconstruction in Yogyakarta and Central Java, at least 40 percent of displaced families in the two provinces are still living in temporary shelters.
"That is the percentage of those who have not yet started rebuilding their houses at all," said the team's secretary, Danang Parikesit.
Given that most of those who have begun rebuilding their homes have only laid the foundation, the actual number of families in temporary shelters is no doubt much higher than 40 percent.
"According to our survey, only some 16.5 percent of those people whose houses were completely destroyed have completely finished rebuilding their houses, including roofs. That is the figure for Yogyakarta. In Central Java it is probably far lower," Danang said.
Yogyakarta has been praised for the speed of the reconstruction process following the earthquake. One of the reasons for this was its decision to directly appoint management consultants to lead the work rather than selecting them through tenders.
On the other side, the Central Java administration has been criticized for moving too slow and wasting valuable time holding tenders and bids for project leaders.
Of the Rp 997 billion budgeted by the central government to repair or rebuild nearly 100,000 houses in Central Java, only about 42 percent of the money has been disbursed by the provincial administration.
In Yogyakarta, of the approximately Rp 1.7 trillion budgeted by the central government to repair or rebuild more than 200,000 houses in the province, 93 percent of the money has been disbursed and distributed to earthquake survivors.
According to Danang, rebuilding destroyed houses has been the main focus of both provincial governments.
After the immediate need of housing is addressed, the administrations are then expected to turn their attention to pushing economic recovery.
"The money that is flowing into both the communities and the local governments, through numerous programs, hopefully will be able to serve as a trigger for better economic growth that will make the regions more economically sound than ever," Danang said.
For 2007, the central government reportedly has allocated some Rp 2.7 trillion from the state budget for continued rehabilitation and reconstruction work in Yogyakarta and Central Java.
"The central government plans to complete all of the rehabilitation and reconstruction work in Yogyakarta and Central Java within three budget years," said the chairman of the national coordinating team, Soetatwo Hadiwigeno. He added that the reconstruction of all destroyed houses was expected to be completed within two years after the date of the earthquake.