Turkey's Red Crescent does good

Sometimes something, maybe some small thing, goes right even in the midst of a disaster. In this case, the disaster is the post-tsunami reconstruction effort in Aceh, Indonesia, a monument to corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency. The not-so-small thing:

Not all the news is bad. Work on a highway down the devastated west coast of the province, financed by the United States government, is under way, and a new port has opened in Meulaboh, the seaside town that was smashed to smithereens.

Of the lucky ones with a roof over their heads, those with houses built by the Turkish Red Crescent Society are the most pleased.

“They’ve given us good quality,” said Khairuman, 45, a building laborer, and his wife, Suginah, 43, as they showed off their blue-tiled bathroom replete with bath and shower in the beachside community of Lampuuk. Like many Indonesians, they use one name.

The Red Crescent Society paid $10,000 for each brick house, about double the cost of houses built by other agencies. And it sent a team of engineers with experience from the 1999 earthquake in Turkey.

“The people of Aceh suffered; they need to stay in good houses,” said an engineer, Ali Pekoz. From the sunproof window glass to imported hinges on the doors, the Turks chose the best fittings, he said.

Aid Groups Are Criticized Over Tsunami Reconstruction - New York Times. By Jane Perlez.