Boxing Day tsunami devastated Banda Aceh but 15 years later, have Indonesians learned from the tragedy?

More than 25,600 residential, commercial, government and school buildings are inside the high-risk area, which was almost completely wiped out in 2004

Lax law enforcement, a shortage of government resources and reluctance on the part of survivors to leave the coast mean threat remains

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Visitors walk on the power plant boat that was beached during the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in Banda Aceh. Photo: EPA

Published: 2:00pm, 23 Dec 2019Updated: 11:19pm, 23 Dec 2019

When 12-metre waves slammed into Banda Aceh on the northern tip of Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Boxing Day in 2004, Arif Munandar lost his wife, three sons, and 20 other members of his family as much of the city was obliterated.

The tsunami – triggered by a massive 9.1 magnitude quake – also hit at least six other countries along the rim of the Indian Ocean, killing more than 230,000 people. Indonesia was hit hardest, with more than 168,000 killed.

Fifteen years on, Munandar and tens of thousands of others have been allowed to rebuild in the same low-lying areas of Banda Aceh despite continuing risks of tsunami and other coastal hazards like flooding. Officials and experts say it’s because of lax law enforcement, a lack of government resources for relocation, and an entrenched reluctance on the part of many survivors to abandon their lives and livelihoods near the coast.

More than 25,600 residential, commercial, government and school buildings are inside the high-risk area, which was almost completely wiped out in 2004, according to analysis of city data. City officials say about 50,000 people live there today – nearly the same as in 2004.

A woman rides a motorbike past a sign pointing at a tsunami evacuation route in Banda Aceh. Photo: EPA

Immediately after the disaster, the government considered banning construction within a 2km coastal buffer zone. But the plan was dropped after communities, many dependent on fishing, took to the streets to protest such attempts to move them away from their ancestral lands and livelihoods.