VZCZCXRO0061
OO RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHJA #1786/01 2991406
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 261406Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3662
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 8014
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1116
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 8878
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JAKARTA 001786 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP, CA 
STATE FOR USAID 
USAID FOR DCHA/OFDA CCHAN, ACONVERY, RTHAYER, AND RMT 
USAID FOR ANE KROSEN 
BANGKOK FOR ADWYER 
NSC FOR CPRATT 
USUN FOR DMERCADO 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
PACOM POLAD/J3/J5 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV CASC ECON EAID SENV ID PHUM AEMR ASEC CASC
MARR, PREL, PINR, AMGT, EAID, AQ, LA, RP, TN, VM, WS 
 
SUBJECT:  INDONESIA EARTHQUAKE HUMANITARIAN UPDATE #13:  SHELTER AND 
SETTLEMENTS 
 
REF:  A) JAKARTA 01715  B) JAKARTA 01756 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  The combination of widespread, spontaneous shelter recovery by 
households affected by the September 30 earthquake and emerging 
humanitarian action in the shelter and settlements sector is 
beginning to address post-earthquake shelter needs.  In many 
instances observed by the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team 
(USAID/DART), affected families have completed, or are completing, 
construction of small shelters on site, ranging from modest use of 
plastic sheeting with light wood framing to more robust designs 
featuring salvaged building materials.  However, these temporary 
shelters are generally inadequate to serve as shelter for up to two 
years, owing to shortcomings that undermine Government of Indonesia 
(GoI) and humanitarian community efforts to promote the creation of 
safe, secure, private, healthy, habitable, and appropriate shelter. 
The core challenges of the humanitarian community in the coming 
weeks and months will be catching up with spontaneous shelter 
activity, overcoming limited donor support of transitional shelters 
that will also serve as the first phase of longer-term 
reconstruction efforts, and managing transitional shelter programs 
lasting up to six months when shelter cluster coordination ends in 
approximately two months.  End summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
Housing Damage, Shelter Needs, and Emerging Responses 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶2.  According to the latest GoI estimate, as reported by the U.N. 
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on 
October 23, the earthquake severely or moderately damaged 200,712 
houses, with thousands of other homes sustaining light damage.  The 
GoI estimates may be overstated.  For example, GoI data indicate 
that 42 percent of Padang city's nearly 180,000 housing units 
sustained medium to heavy damage, but an October 20 USAID/DART 
reconnaissance of the city suggests that no more than 15 percent of 
housing units were so damaged. 
 
¶3.  In addition to the GoI effort, the World Bank is currently 
conducting a separate damage and loss assessment (DLA), which may 
result in different figures, owing to different methodologies, 
criteria, and assessment personnel.  The World Bank DLA will be 
released in mid-November.  The World Bank and GoI may need to review 
and reconcile their respective assessment figures prior to release 
of the DLA.  (Comment:  Discrepancies in damage assessment totals 
will not materially affect USAID/OFDA shelter and settlements sector 
programming.  End comment.) 
 
¶4.  According to OCHA, the GoI National Disaster Management Agency 
(BNPB) reports that the earthquake severely and moderately damaged 
200,712 houses, but only 50,230 families have received emergency 
shelter assistance in the form of plastic sheeting and tents.  In 
the most earthquake-affected areas, centered in Padang Pariaman 
District, roughly 95 percent of homes sustained severe and moderate 
damage, leaving an estimated 82,535 households in need of shelter 
assistance. 
 
¶5.  The earthquake-affected population itself has to a significant 
extent relied on its own resources and labor to create shelter, 
given widespread damage and needs.  In many instances observed by 
the USAID/DART, affected families have completed, or are completing, 
construction of small shelters on site, ranging from modest use of 
plastic sheeting with light wood framing to more robust designs 
featuring largely exclusive use of salvaged building materials. 
Local and international humanitarian organizations, as well as the 
GoI, have supported, in part, this widespread, spontaneous shelter 
recovery by earthquake-affected households. 
 
¶6.  Following a disaster such as an earthquake, transitional housing 
 
JAKARTA 00001786  002 OF 003 
 
 
for affected populations should remain habitable for up to two 
years.  However, nearly all of the spontaneous temporary housing 
constructed thus far is not adequate to serve as shelter for up to 
two years, owing to space, design, and risk reduction shortcomings 
that undermine GoI and humanitarian community efforts to promote the 
creation of safe, secure, private, healthy, habitable, and 
appropriate shelter. 
 
¶7.  To address shelter needs consistent with humanitarian community 
practice, including the incorporation of seismic-resistant 
construction measures as part of shelter and settlements activities, 
the humanitarian community is beginning to complement the rapid 
spontaneous shelter effort with a program increasingly featuring 
provision of transitional shelter assistance.  Actors will assist 
those still in need of shelter, retrofit shelters completed to date, 
and provide the basic training and information on seismic-resistant 
construction for both transitional and permanent housing. 
 
¶8.  Programmed responses, in contrast to the spontaneous efforts of 
the affected population, are being coordinated by the International 
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), which is 
serving as emergency shelter cluster lead agency.  The cluster has 
created four technical working groups (TWGs) on toolkits, 
transitional shelter, permanent housing, and public information and 
outreach.  The transitional shelter TWG has agreed on the parameters 
for transitional shelter.  Humanitarian organizations are conducting 
assessments and distributions and preparing proposals for donor 
agencies in anticipation of continued programming. 
 
------------------------------ 
Shelter Programming Challenges 
------------------------------ 
 
¶9.  The affected population, GoI, and humanitarian community face 
numerous challenges in the construction of temporary and 
transitional shelter and the reconstruction of permanent shelter. 
Core challenges include the following: 
 
-- Transitional Shelter -- 
 
¶10. The GoI has been slow to recognize the affected population's 
spontaneous shelter effort and the humanitarian community's approach 
of catching up with this effort by supporting transitional shelter 
programming.  The GoI initially adopted a one-step approach 
featuring rapid movement into housing reconstruction once acute 
emergency needs were addressed, whereas the humanitarian community 
prefers to first provide transitional shelter and then support 
reconstruction.  Based on previous disaster responses in Indonesia 
and elsewhere, this latter view reflects the facts that 
reconstruction typically lasts two or more years, and affected 
populations require shelter interventions that are more durable than 
plastic sheeting and tents and that serve as first-phase 
reconstruction.  With guidance from the USAID/OFDA shelter and 
settlements advisor, the shelter cluster provided input to an 
October 23 GoI decision that transitional shelter assistance was an 
appropriate form of first-phase reconstruction, thereby facilitating 
donor funding for transitional shelter activities. 
 
-- GoI Housing Damage Payments -- 
 
¶11.  The GoI announced on October 24 that affected households would 
receive approximately $106, $1,060, and $1,590 for houses with 
slight, moderate, and severe damage, respectively.  The humanitarian 
community views these payment amounts as insufficient, and the World 
Bank DLA will likely confirm this perspective.  Issues including how 
and when payments will be made remain unresolved.  Experience from 
other earthquakes, including the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake, 
suggests that payments will not commence for several months and will 
likely be in tranches, adding additional delays.  (Comment: 
Although important from a sector-wide perspective, payment levels 
and likely delays in disbursement will not significantly affect 
USAID/OFDA shelter and settlements programming.  End comment.)  At 
 
JAKARTA 00001786  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
present, the GoI plans to implement a flexible payment schedule 
based on housing damage and site characteristics. 
 
-- Impact of Humanitarian Assistance -- 
 
¶12.  The provision of humanitarian assistance will likely impact the 
affected population's eligibility to receive GoI payments.  Although 
the GoI will most likely permit affected populations to receive both 
humanitarian assistance and damage payments, this issue remains 
unresolved.  The GoI has not yet planned how to communicate 
eligibility determinations in a clear and timely manner. 
 
-- Emergency Shelter Cluster Coordination -- 
 
¶13.  In other disaster responses, IFRC-led cluster activities 
usually phase out two to three months after activation.  IFRC makes 
the decision about when to phase out activities based on the 
organization's capacity to support staff and the agreement with OCHA 
for IFRC to coordinate the shelter response, focusing solely on 
emergency shelter and not on transitional shelter.  In past disaster 
responses, IFRC has phased out before the completion of the 
transitional shelter programming phase, which often lasts six 
months.  IFRC's departure after two or three months, at precisely 
the time when project activities will be at a peak, will likely 
result in limited cluster coordination for nearly half of the 
six-month transitional shelter phase.  In addition to this 
intra-cluster management challenge, the humanitarian community is 
voicing growing concern regarding inter-cluster coordination, noting 
that U.N. Human Settlements Program (UN Habitat), the designated 
early recovery cluster focal point for housing reconstruction, will 
not receive resources commensurate with the task at hand, which 
could undermine overall reconstruction efforts. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
USAID/OFDA Shelter and Settlements Projects Begin 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶14.  USAID/OFDA has contributed $3 million to humanitarian 
organizations, including Save the Children, Catholic Relief 
Services, Mercy Corps, World Vision, CARE, and Build Change, in the 
Emergency Capacity Building (ECB) consortium.  With this funding, 
ECB members are supporting community clean-up, salvaging, emergency 
shelter repairs, transitional shelter assistance, and disaster risk 
reduction (DRR) promotion and training.  USAID/OFDA plans to provide 
additional funding to support expanded transitional shelter efforts. 
 Total USAID/OFDA funding will likely provide between 7,000 and 
10,000 earthquake-affected households with transitional shelter over 
the next six months.  Follow-on DRR programming, focused on 
promoting seismic-resistant construction and providing training, 
will complement USAID/OFDA's disaster response funding. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Next Steps in Shelter and Settlements Sector 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶15.  USAID/OFDA plans to engage in at least four follow-on 
activities.  With the departure of the USAID/DART from Padang on 
October 25, two USAID/OFDA field officers plan to remain in Padang 
until mid-November, monitoring shelter and settlements sector 
activities.  USAID/OFDA plans to expedite proposal reviews, 
approvals, and funding to accelerate project activities, given the 
need to support spontaneous efforts and complement these efforts 
with new transitional shelter.  USAID/OFDA plans to support DRR 
promotion and training as part of shelter project activities, as 
well as part of two-year DRR programs focused on both schools and 
shelter.  Finally, USAID/OFDA will advocate for more robust shelter 
cluster management and coordination, so that shelter and settlements 
actors receive support needed to assist individuals affected by the 
September 30 earthquake. 
 
 
Hume#