Jakarta – Hundreds of tsunami survivors threw rocks at police in Aceh on Wednesday during a protest to demand housing and jobs at the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) office.

The fighting broke out after police used water cannons on hundreds of protesters, who had blockaded the office in the provincial capital Banda Aceh from late Tuesday, an AP photographer said. One person was hit by a flying rock and at least one police car was damaged, he said.

Banda Aceh Police later named a suspect for allegedly inciting the riot. "We've named Panji Utomo as a suspect and we'll immediately put him under arrest for provoking people to conduct violent acts," Banda Aceh Police deputy chief Comr. Dedi Setiyo told Antara news agency.

He said the police attempted to arrest Panji when the protest got out of control, but they were unable to find him among the crowd. "We'll continue looking for him and we'll arrest him by force if he doesn't surrender," Dedi said.

The agency's task to provide housing for the survivors is a massive one. Tens of thousands of people still without permanent homes have complained that the process is too slow given the enormous resources committed to the province.

Protesters, many of whom still live in wooden barracks, demanded that the agency speed up the building of homes and businesses. They threatened to stay in the agency's compound until their demands were met.

Mirza Keumala, a spokesman for the agency, promised to do everything possible to speed up the process, AP reported. But Mirza also alleged that a local aid group called the "Barracks Forum" organized the rally, and was demanding that funds be directly transferred to its own account, something he said the agency could not do.

The 2004 tsunami killed or left missing at least 216,000 people in 11 Indian Ocean nations, more than half of them in Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra island.