Ciamis – As a fisherman wife, Saring lives a simple life. But the 53-year-old never imagined she would have to camp in a make-shift tent for more than a year.

Along with 32 other displaced families, Saring has lived with her husband and four children in a temporary home since a July 17, 2006 tsunami struck and destroyed their house located some 15 meters away from the coastline at Parapat village in Pangandaran beach, Ciamis regency, West Java.

The disaster-relief tents are scattered in a plantation area about 10 meters from the main entrance to the popular Pangandaran beach.

The temporary 8-square-meter tent is the center of Saring's family's activities. It's where they sleep, play and study.

The tsunami wave damaged many fishing boats, including the one owned by Purwono, Saring's 55-year-old husband. Purwono's boat was how he earned a living and supported his family. "We have moved three times," Saring said. "In this place, we've been living for eight months."

In the nine months since cash aid was stopped, the couple have had to struggle to provide food for the family, or to send their children to school.

"I'll do anything," Saring said. "I will do other people's laundry or their cooking to make enough to buy vegetables. My husband has just started going to sea again but now has to stop due to high waves."

But Purwono said he would not easily give up. With simple equipment he still owned, he opened a repair shop to help fix damaged fishing boats and machines. He turned a nearby post some 20 meters from the tent to house his repair shop.

Saring and Purwono said they would survive but that living in their tent was torture.

"It's very hot during the daytime and very cold at night," Saring said. "Not to mention we have to squeeze in for space when sleeping. When my child got sick, it was terrible. I wish that I could sweep my floor again and sleep tight."

Another displaced resident, 35-year-old mother-of-three Wasiah said her 20-month-old boy was suffering from bronchitis.

"His coughing is not getting better and he is not gaining weight," Wasiah said. "It's sad to see him take medicine all the time."

The three public bathrooms used by the families living in makeshift tents are stronger buildings and serve as a shelter during heavy rains, despite the foul stench.

And although these families have received some financial aid to help build new homes, one year after the disaster the regency administration has yet to come up with relocation place where they should build their houses.

Most families used to live near the coastline, but they are no longer allowed to build houses there. "We're told that we might get land in April, then June and then July," Saring said.

Coordinator of Pangandaran displaced residents, Mardiyono, said of the tsunami-hit districts, only Pangandaran district residents did not yet have relocation sites.

Apart from the 33 families in Pangandaran beach, 13 other families in Wonoharjo village, one in Pananjung village and 22 in Babakan village were still in shelters, he said.

"We ask please don't act differently (because) we are residents here too and we can't go back to our former houses (because they also have been) declared prohibited," said Mardiyono.

But Ciamis Regent Engkon Koswara blamed the displaced residents for continuing to live in tents. "I was told everyone has received Rp 15 million assistance to move out (to new houses)," Engkon said.

But a new home seems like a distant dream for most of these displaced residents.

Ciamis Regency Legislative Council said it was working toward asking the regency administration to treat the displaced residents equally by providing them with a relocation site.

The council's secretary Subur said the administration was preparing a plot of land in Cimerak, Pangandaran, as a relocation site.

However, Sabur said most of the displaced residents still living in tents originally had their homes in areas where construction was prohibited.

He said this made the administration reluctant to prepare the relocation site since they had violated regulations in the first instance by building near the coastline. "They lived in areas where buildings were prohibited and they cannot rebuild there."