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Walking down
the south coast of Aceh Darussalam, we found fishing boats
scattered far from the shore, destroyed houses, cars and
motorcycles turned upside down, piles of debris and garbage,
decomposed corpses spreading a choking stench, and people with
empty expressions and without hope. Those are what I saw when
I first set foot on Aceh on January 1, 2005.
I left Jakarta on December 29, we were stuck in Medan for one
day waiting for the ship who brought our supplies. However,
losing contact with the ship which anchored in
God only knows which port, I was sure that it would not come
and so decided to travel to Singkil instead. This was the only logical path
to get to Meulaboh at that time. I left Medan accompanied by
Arif, an Acehnese friend of mine and Andi, the General
Secretary of FPPI Medan.
After 18 hours, we arrived in Singkil. Quite confused, we
could not find any emergency stations around Singkil's port.
The land route was cut off at Bakongan, so the only possible
way was using the sea route. But, no one dared to set sail,
everybody was afraid with the subsequent tremors. We finally
met with other volunteers who told us that they had been stuck
there for two days. In the afternoon, we were lucky, we found
a medium sized boat in quite good condition, but there was no
captain. But, again, finally we found someone who could be the
captain, a Batak with a full beard and an exceptional sense of
humour, enough to cool down the tension.
It was an anxious and frightening moment when my friends and I
set sail. A dozen people waved at the port, saying their
prayers which touched my emotion deeply and also made me feel
an eeriness. We set sail at 10 pm, nobody spoke during the
first hour even our funny captain. Everybody sat tight without
a sound. But as the night got darker, the stars and the moon
began to look brighter, they created a relaxing aura. Even
when the captain said, "I have not sailed to Labuhan
Haji in the last 4 years, the route is dangerous", we
still felt relaxed and just laughed. And we got lost indeed,
the usual 9 hours sail was lengthened to 15 hours.
At 3 pm we finally arrived in Labuhan Haji, South Aceh. The
scene of the disaster was already visible but it was bigger
than I had imagined. Faraway inland, we found wrecked ships
and boats, vast empty areas where there used to be houses and
several small refugee camps around. All was too quiet. We
could not find a truck to take us and all of these help
supplies to Meulaboh, so I decided to go to Tapaktuan, the
capital of South Aceh regency where maybe I could find
something or someone to help. I met with the regent, and he
was willing to help find the truck we needed. A
policeman helped me to go to Meulaboh with his patrol
car.
Again, an aura of silence. Finally, the policeman who drove
the car broke the silence. He told me that he lost a brother
in Banda Aceh, and he was actually scared to go to Meulaboh as
the route was not safe, it was a battle ground between the
military and the separatist movement. He kept silent again. He
switched on the car radio and turned it up loud. I also kept
silent. He drove really fast, too fast for this condition. I
think it compensated for his fear. After 3 hours, we entered
the area of disaster: Nagan Raya regency, then West Aceh
regency.
Entering
Meulaboh on January 1, 2005, it was really eerie.
It was a city of death. Simply no one, nothing alive. No
electricity, no buildings, even no real road and everything
was covered with debris, no one, nothing. The stench of
corpses filled the air. We became disoriented and didn't know
what to do, even my friend the policeman became confused.
He used his police radio to contact assistance and command,
but no one was there. He could not do anything without any
command he said. He began to be tense.
We
finally found Cut Nyak Dhien hospital. There was light from
some part of the building, we rushed to that light, but again,
no one there. "Is it true, that everyone is dead?".
I asked this question in my mind.
After a while, two men with a motorcycle passed the hospital.
They told me that everybody now stayed in the regent's house.
We followed them and it was true. There were quite a lot of
refugees there. Thank God, there's still life. There was
no room at the regent's house, so we went back to the hospital and
slept in a bus parked in front of the hospital.
In the morning, the signs of life that I longed for finally appeared. On
the streets, a lot of people dwelled with confusion and empty
gazes. I went to the beach and just like in Nagan Raya the
houses were flattened to the ground. Houses that were still
standing were too damaged to be used. Nearer to the beach the
condition became worse. Corpses were scattered all around,
most of them were unrecognizable because of severe injuries or
final stages of decomposition. At the beach, I met a young man
who was just sitting there in silence. I went near him and
started a conversation. He told me that all of his
family were lost in the tsunami. He survived the tsunami
because he luckily was able to reach a plastic water container
floating near him. He was washed to the Local Parliament
Building and was able to grab the building and climb onto its
roof. He was safe but he lost everything....
Bahasa Indonesia
Berjalanlah
menyusuri pesisir selatan Aceh Darussalam, maka akan kita
temui kapal-kapal nelayan yang terdampar di daratan,
rumah-rumah yang hancur, mobil-motor yang tak berbentuk,
tumpukan sampah dan puing- puing, mayat-mayat membusuk
keputih-putihan dengan aroma yang menyesakkan, dan orang-orang
dengan tatapan mata kosong tanpa harapan. Suasana itulah
yang aku dapati ketika dua minggu lalu, tepatnya 1 Januari
2005, menginjakkan kaki di Aceh.
Berangkat dari Jakarta tgl 29 Desember, aku tertahan di Medan
1 hari: menunggu bantuan yang direncanakan datang. Namun
begitu bantuan dipastikan tidak datang karena kapalnya
berlabuh entah di mana, aku memutuskan untuk ke Singkil.
Karena itulah jalur yang paling mungkin untuk sampai di
Meulaboh saat itu. Ditemani Arif (temen Aceh) dan Andi (Sekjend
FPPI Medan), aku berangkat. 18 jam perjalanan, kami sampai di
Singkil. Sempet kebingungan kami di sana. Karena tidak posko
apapun yang bisa ditemui di kawasan pelabuhan. Jalan darat
terputus di Bakongan, dan satu-satunya jalan adalah lewat laut.
Namun kendala muncul. Tidak ada kapal yang berani melaut.
Nelayan masih takut akan kemungkinan terjadinya gempa susulan,
seperti diberitakan media. Kami bertemu dengan relawan lokal
Singkil yang juga ingin mengirim bantuan ke Meulaboh.
Sudah 2 hari mereka tertahan di
pelabuhan, karena belum dapat kapal. Namun beruntung, sore
kami dapat kabar bahwa mereka dapat kapal, namun belum dapat
kapten (nahkoda) yang mau mengemudikan, karena sang kapten
kapal tidak berani. Setelah mencari sana-sini, akhirnya
nahkoda yang kami harap ketemu juga. Seorang batak berewokan,
dengan selera humor yang cukup untuk menghilangkan ketegangan.
Momen pemberangkatan cukup menegangkan. Dilepas puluhan warga
yang berkumpul di pelabuhan, berdoa, membuatku merinding dan
terharu. Semua berharap gempa susulan yang diberitakan tidak
terjadi. Kami berangkat pukul 10 malam. Dan selama 1 jam
perjalanan kami diselimuti kebisuan. Duduk di tempat
masing-masing. Namun begitu malam beranjak larut dan bintang
bulan menampakkan sinarnya, suasana rileks mulai tercipta.
Perjalanan yang diperkirakan hanya membutuhkan waktu 9 jam
molor menjadi 15 jam. "Kita sempet tersesat dan
mutar-mutar selama 3- 4 jam. Saya belum pernah berlayar sampai
ke Labuhan Haji selama 4 tahun ini, karena itu daerah rawan,"
kata sang kapten.
Pukul 3 kami baru sampai Labuhan Haji, Aceh Selatan.Suasana
bencana sudah terasa. Meski tidak sebesar yang aku perkirakan
sebelumnya. Kapal-kapal terdampar di daratan, rusak, dan
rumah-rumah di pinggir pantai jebol dinding-dindingnya. Di
Labuhan Haji sepi, hanya ada beberapa titik pengungsi, dan
kami tidak mendapatkan truk untuk mengangkut barang ke
Meulaboh. Aku berinisiatif ke Tapak Tuan, Ibukota Aceh Selatan,
untuk mencari dan mengirim informasi. Bupati Aceh Selatan
bersedia mencarikan truk untuk mengangkut bantuan kami. Aku
sendiri dari Tapak Tuan langsung menuju Meulaboh, menumpang
mobil polisi.
Lagi-lagi, kebisuan tercipta. Polisi yang menyetir di
sampingku, setelah bercerita kalo kakak kandungnya hilang di
Banda Aceh dan dia sebenarnya takut untuk ke Meulaboh karena
jalur ke sana relatif tidak aman, tidak lagi bicara. Hanya
musik yang diputarnya keras-keras. Akupun diam. Suasana gelap
dan dia menyetir kencang sekali. Seakan kompensasi dari
ketakutannya. 3 jam perjalanan kami mulai memasuki kawasan
utama bencana: kabupaten Nagan Raya, lalu kabupaten Aceh Barat.
Memasuki Meulaboh pada saat itu, tanggal satu, memerindingkan
bulu roma. Kita seakan memasuki kota mati, daerah tak
berpenghuni. Suasana gelap karena listrik masih mati, dan tak
satupun orang bisa kita jumpai. Polisi yang mengantarkupun
tegang dan kebingungan. Tidak tahu harus kemana. Aku
membayangkan semua penduduk mati, karena bau anyir menyengat
di sana-sini. Namun ada harapan. Kami menjumpai RS Cut Nyak
Dioen yang masih berdiri, dengan nyala lampu di beberapa
ruangannya. Kami ke sana, namun tidak ada yang bisa ditemui.
Suasana sepi. "Benarkah semua orang di sini sudah mati?"
batinku.
Setelah beberapa lama 2 orang pengendara motor menghampiri.
Mereka membawa kami ke kantor bupati, dan di sana ada banyak
pengungsi. Ternyata masih ada kehidupan di sini. Setelah
berbisik-bisik sana sini, kami kembali ke rumah sakit dan
menginap disana. Aku tidur dibus yang terparkir di halaman.
Paginya, kehidupan yang aku tunggu datang. Di jalanan,
sejumlah orang berlalu-lalang, dengan muka-muka bingung dan
mengharukan. Aku bangun dan berjalan menuju pantai. Seperti di
Nagan Raya, rumah-rumah di sinipun banyak hancur. Rumah-rumah
yang tidak ambruk pun tampak sepi tak berpenghuni. Makin dekat
ke arah pantai pemandangan kian menyedihkan. Mayat tergeletak
di beberapa sudut jalan, putih membusuk, beberapa mengambang
di rawa-rawa. Semua tidak bisa dikenali lagi rupanya. Di
pinggir pantai aku bertemu seorang pemuda yang termangu di
sebuah jembatan. Aku menghampirinya, bertanya, dan ia
bercerita. Seluruh keluarga hilang ditelan ombak. Dia selamat
karena kebetulan bisa meraih sebuah jerigen sehingga
mengambang bersama air. Begitu mendekati bangunan tinggi (gedung
DPRD), ia berenang dan hinggap di atap hingga air surut. Ia
selamat, namun kehilangan
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