Religious prayers and a series of activities marked the first anniversary of the Java earthquake that killed more than 5 800 people and caused massive destruction, local media reports said on Sunday.
The May 27 2006 temblor caused more than $3-billion in damages and triggered the world’s largest international emergency response of last year.
In Bantul district, one of the hardest-hit, hundreds of survivors packed into a soccer field and conducted a series of social and cultural activity that ended on Sunday morning with a moment of silence after joined a pre-dawn prayer.
In nearby Imogiri district — known as the batik production centre — batik makers displayed a 2km-long batik as an indication their industry was recovering after the disaster, local media reports said.
A series of workshops and seminars on disaster management, post-disaster reconstruction and the role of donors and service providers was also being held.
In the nearby central Java district of Klaten, a community gathering was held with dozens of rice cones, locally called nasi tumpeng, representing the more than 6 000 houses that have been rebuilt.
In traditional Indonesia, rice cones are savoured only on special occasions, normally to celebrate success or key milestones.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono praised on Saturday the swift reconstruction and rehabilitation work, touted by many as a success, compared with the similar works in Aceh province, where reconstruction process has been a ”mixed bag” with more than 40 000 people still living in tents two years after the tsunami disaster.
”The reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts are the biggest and fastest ones that have ever been implemented in the world,” Economic Minister Boediono has said.
Officials responsible to the rehabilitation and reconstruction works in Yogyakarta claim that 99% of the displaced residents are now living in permanent housing or at least semi-permanent shelters, adding that fewer than 10 000 people living in remote areas remain without adequate shelter.
In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, government officials, including Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, pledged up to $3 500 in payouts for families to rebuild their homes, based on the scale of the damage. — Sapa-dpa