Camelia Pasandaran – Hundreds of Acehnese displaced by the December 2004 tsunami celebrated Idul Fitri in a squalid camp in Aceh Besar district, prompting calls on Wednesday for the provincial government to determine how many people are still living in temporary housing after nearly five years.

"The provincial government should start making field surveys to determine the true conditions," said Raihan Iskandar, deputy chairman of the Aceh Legislative Council.

Raihan, a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) councilor, said a lack of precise data on the number of displaced people hampered the government's ability to effectively handle tsunami recovery.

The Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) ended its mandate in April and handed over responsibility to the local Aceh Sustainability Reconstruction Agency (BKRA).

The central government established the BRR in the aftermath of the tsunami to facilitate reconstruction in affected areas. More than 170,000 Indonesians were killed or disappeared in the disaster, and hundreds of thousands more were displaced.

The local Serambinews.com Web site reported on Wednesday that more than 260 tsunami victims were still living in shelters in Bakoy village in the Ingin Jaya subdistrict of Aceh Besar.

Idrus, a coordinator for the displaced persons in Bakoy, accused the government of abandoning them since the BRR pulled out of the area.

"There are still many problems confronting tsunami victims, including relocation," Idrus was quoted as saying on the Web site. Idrus also described what he said were unacceptable conditions in the shelters, with public facilities such as toilets and bathrooms not functioning properly.

Raihan said the government should coordinate with the BKRA to assess living conditions for tsunami victims still living in temporary shelters.

"If there are people who claim that there are refugees left without proper housing, they could be sued" for defamation if the claims turn out to be untrue, he said.

"With proper data, the government could make a better plan to help tsunami victims."

Raihan said the next legislative council should have a clear plan for managing long-term rehabilitation programs in Aceh.

Councilors voted into office in the April elections, the majority from the Aceh Party, the successor to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), are scheduled to be sworn in on Sept. 30.