By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia
MEULABOH : Post-tsunami Meulaboh is sinking at an alarming rate, geologists and non-governmental organisations warn.
With the start of the rainy season, residents also fear floods may destroy some of the reconstruction work.
Markets once lined with dead bodies are now open for business.
Fishing boats have been repaired and fishermen are once again happy with their daily catch.
The sound of celebration, unheard here in a long time, is back as some men had who lost their wives to the tsunami remarry and lives are rebuilt.
But many fear flooding will wash all these away.
Indonesia's Geographical Department and Technological Assessment Unit has confirmed that some parts of Meulaboh have sunk by 0.4 to 1.2 metres in the last six months.
And many parts of dry land are now underwater.
The situation is worse in nearby Samatiga.
Said Leigh Cromwell of International Friendship Summit, an American NGO in Samatiga, "We've had some engineers come in. They believe the island is sinking from 1 to 3 metres. Our walkway used to have 2 metres of coverage; now as you can see it has half a metre and this has happened in 4 to 6 months. And our steps -- we have four steps that are under the sand; we lost one step this week."
Much of the paddy fields in Samatiga are now rivers.
Once a rice farmer, Ibnu Abbas is now a fisherman.
It is now the month of September and the beginning of the first rainy season following the tsunami.
Massive volumes of water are expected to flow down from the mountains and the locals fear that this will cause flooding.
This is because most of the river mouths have been sealed by sand, which was deposited there during the tsunami.
Said TA Dadek, district head of Meulaboh, "For this time the government doesn't have plans for the flood yet because of funding. In the newspapers, (you see) so much money for Aceh; but I'm local government, I'm sub-district head, I feel no money in my level of government. We hope that NGOs can make some planning for the situation if floods are coming here."
Concern over the possibility of flooding is also causing Singapore NGOs to relook plans for the construction of a tsunami memorial at ground zero in Meulaboh.
Said Tay Kheng Soon, architect of the Tsunami Memorial Mosque, "It looks as though the area immediately around the memorial mosque which we are going to build doesn't flood. But it floods some distance away so I am going to propose to build a bund along the side, so that would hopefully keep the sea at bay. But it's an unknown. Nobody knows to what extent there is going to be more settlement because this is a seismic zone."
The locals had spent weeks digging an opening to allow flood waters to flow out.
Instead, seawater is flowing in.
So work is underway to re-seal it before the sea wreaks havoc again. - CNA /ct