Disasters Waiting to Happen:

The Effects of Poverty and Corruption on the Redevelopment of Banda Aceh and New Orleans

Stacey Sechrest Carder stacey.sechrest@citigroup.com Politics of International Economic Relations X.12.9251.002/Fall 2005 December 12, 2005

In reviewing the article The Geography of Poverty (The Economist, March 2001)1 by Jeffrey Sachs, Andrew D. Mellinger, and John L. Gallup, the GNP density is focused around those areas near oceans and waterways, which have historically had the largest concentration of economic activity. Two

impoverished areas, New Orleans and Banda Aceh, are noticeably red to orange on the map, indicating that there is a high density of GNP per capita. However, the distribution of that GNP is not entirely equitable in those two areas and this economic heat map may mislead some to believe that should bad luck befall these areas, their presumed economic stability would buoy the situation.

Two unprecedented natural disasters occurred in two entirely different regions within 9 months of each other: the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast. While theses regions, specifically Banda Aceh and New Orleans, Louisiana, could not be more different in terms of geography and their disasters' magnitude, they are very similar in terms of their affected populations' income disparity relative to surrounding areas, economic dependence on limited resources, lack of pre-disaster development, and the endemic corruption that impeded the response to and redevelopment of the affected areas.

Banda Aceh: Separate and Unequal Banda Aceh, the provincial capital of Aceh, Indonesia, is located on the far northwestern tip of the island of Sumatra and surrounded by the ocean on three sides. From as far back as the 16th century until 1949, Aceh struggled between Dutch and British rule. The region, whose 4.3 million people is mostly devout Muslim and feels a general disconnect with secular Indonesia, became a part of the Republic of Indonesia in 1950 and was granted special territory status.2

Seen as a foreign invasion, the region engaged in separatist conflict with Indonesia, which was ruled by President Suharto for over 30 years, until his resignation in 1998. A series of ceasefires followed along with increased oil and gas revenues and establishment of Islamic law (sharia) in local courts, all promising to stabilize the violent and impoverished region. However, talks between the Indonesian army (TNI) and the Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM), or Free Aceh Movement, broke down in 2002 before a Cessetion of Hostilities Agreement was never signed. The conflict continues to this day.3 Indonesia as a whole, if not unified country, has a more viable economic position than many of its South Asian neighbors. During the more than 30 years of President Suhartos government, the GDP per capita increased from $70 to more than $1,000. However, this exponential growth masked a very

See attachment. Sherlock , Dr. Stephen. Conflict in Aceh: A Military Solution?. Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Group. 23 June 2003. Parliament of Australia, Parliamentary Library. 3 Ibid, Crisis Profile: Deadlock in Indonesia's Aceh conflict. Katherine Arie. AlterNet.
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weak banking and legal system and trade restrictions, which led Indonesia towards financial collapse in 1997. Following the collapse, GDP decreased by almost 14 percent and inflation reached 77 percent for a brief period in 1998. As of 2004, the economy experienced something of a turnaround with an economic growth rate of 5.1 percent and an increase in domestic consumption.4 The poverty level for Indonesia is about 8 percent, but ranks 8th in the world (behind Brazil and ahead of Mexico).5 The poverty rate of Aceh province, measured by those who survive on less than two U.S. dollars per day, is 44 percent.6 Aceh province differs greatly from Indonesia as a whole, which up until the end of 2004, had a GDP that ranked 15th in the world. While only 8 percent of Indonesias poor live below the poverty line, Acehs is 30 percent.7

Indonesias main export is petroleum, which provides 21.6 percent of its export earnings, or 30 percent of Indonesia's total oil and gas exports.8. It is the worlds largest producer of liquid natural gas. It is also the only Asian member of OPEC outside of the Middle East9. According to OPEC, Indonesia exports 36,900 cubic meters of gas per year and 413,000 barrels of crude oil per day.10 This is a decline from the 1990s, due to aging oil fields and lack of investment in oil production equipment11. While production has increased, consumption has increased, which will inevitably lead to oil importing and higher costs for Indonesian consumers and businesses. Aceh provides 30 percent of Indonesias oil supply, which comprises 43 percent of the states GDP12. Simply put, upwards of 80-90 percent of Acehs wealth from its natural resources has gone to the central government.
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In addition to the economic conditions, human rights abuses by Jakartas

military from as far back as the 1970s and escalating in the early 2000s causing tens of thousands of Achenese to leave their homes has caused widespread displacement and economic discontinuity. Decades of struggle and lack of investment and revenue shares from Jakarta have left it economically and politically desperate and in no way prepared for the devastation to come.

On December 26, 2004, a 10 minute, 9.1 undersea earthquake created a tsunami that became the largest and deadliest natural disaster in modern history. The epicenter of the earthquake was just off
4 5

Economy of Indonesia. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia/Economy www.nationmaster.com 6 Guerin, Bill. Aceh feels the fallout. Asia Times. January 4, 2005. 7 Economy of Indonesia. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia/Economy. ILO Response to Indonesian Crisis. 2005. International Labour Organisation. www.ilo.org. 8 Mobil Oil Indonesia Aceh Province. November 2002. Virtual Information Center. 9 Background Note: Indonesia. May 2005. Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State. 10 Indonesia facts and figures. OPEC. www.opec.org. 11 Economy of Indonesia: Oil and mineral sector. Wikipedia. www.wikipedia.com. 12 Mobil Oil and human rights abuse in Aceh. Down to Earth. No. 39. November, 1998. World Bank: Bye-bye Aceh. Indonesia Relief. August 26, 2005. 13 The Far East and Australasia 1999. Europa Publications Ltd., 1999. p.422.

the coast of Sumatra causing100 foot waves crashing on the shores of Banda Aceh just minutes following the quake. As with much of the rest of the rest of Asia, there was no warning for the people of Banda Aceh.

The map below indicates the close proximity of the epicenter of the earthquake to the island of Sumatra. The second map indicates the affected shorelines, specifically in the capital of Banda Aceh.

Of the fourteen countries known to have suffered human loss as a result of the tsunami, Indonesia, and Banda Aceh in particular, lost 220,000 of the 288,000 estimated, or 76 percent of the total lost. The number of injured exceeded 100,000 and those displaced were estimated between 400-700,000.14 Those living in refugee camps rose to 270,000. With multiple aftershocks and the threat of another tsunami, many Achenese were fearful of returning to their homes along the shore.15 Indeed, most of them had nothing to return to, since fisheries, stores, and other sources of income had been washed away.

U.S. Geological Survey. Star indicates epicenter; dots indicate aftershocks.

While Acehs oil industry didnt suffer major losses as a direct result of the tsunami, its production is expected to deplete by 2011.16 The need to resuscitate its non-oil industries post-tsunami, such as fishing, tourism, and textiles, is critical to economic recovery. Fishing, comprised only 6.5 percent of Acehs GDP, however, most of the local fisherman were swept away by the tsunami and ponds are

14 15

Tsunami: Magnitude of Terror: Effects Death Toll. http://library.thinkquest.org. 270,000 people living in Aceh refugee camps: Govt. Jakarta Post. January 3, 2005. 16 World Bank: Bye-bye Aceh. Indonesia Relief. August 26, 2005.

waterlogged by the surge. Tourism contributes 8.5 percent to Indonesias GDP, but likely most of it comes from areas outside of Aceh, which tourists avoid due to the military conflict.17

Local infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and hospitals were destroyed by the waves and therefore impassable, creating another layer of complexity to recovery (see map below). While relief workers flooded the impoverished area to help, food, shelter, and transportation costs rose, causing inflation rates soared to 17 percent, more than double its average annual rate.18 Many believe that the lack of infrastructure, the remaining conflict with and distrust of the central government, and this immediate inflation strike will be the major barriers to economic recovery for Banda Aceh.

17 18

Tsunami Wave An Economic Tourist Disaster. Thandani, Manav. HVS International. January 7, 2005. World Bank: Bye-bye Aceh. Indonesia Relief. August 26, 2005.

New Orleans: The City That Care Forgot New Orleans, which up until Hurricane Katrina had a population of 484,000, is a city located below sea level surrounded by water on three sides; the Mississippi River runs through the city, Lake Ponchartrain borders it to the north, and the Gulf of Mexico rests to the southeast. While the French founded it, the Spanish ruled the area until 1801 when Napolean re-acquired the land by treaty. In 1803, Napoleon sold the landmass of what is now Louisiana plus the Great Plains, to the U.S.19

The state of Louisiana is influenced heavily by its Spanish and French heritage, even operating under French common law to this day. It has also been influenced by its multiculturalism, with influxes of Caucasian Americans, French, and Creole French, the latter having fled from Haiti. And, being in the South, it also has a heritage of slavery. The racial makeup of the city was 67.52 percent African American, 28.05 percent Caucasian, and 3 percent Hispanic.

New Orleans has one of the busiest ports in the world and handles more Latin American trade than Miami. Louisiana is the third largest producer of petroleum and third largest oil refiner in the U.S.20 New Orleans is also a major tourist destination in the U.S. and industry is the second largest employer in the city. In 2004, visitors spent US $4.9 billion in New Orleans during its many festivals and celebrations.21

This bustling economic activity has not been without its shortcomings. New Orleans has a history of corruption at all levels of local government that has resulted in millions of dollars lost to taxpayers through kickbacks and skimming. In fact, there were 44 indictments of public officials in the past fiscal year. As US Attorney Jim Letten stated, I can say with some conviction that we as a culture have for far too long been exceedingly tolerant of corrupt politicians -- and that has cost us dearly."22

And even with its bustling economy, New Orleans is one of the poorest cities in this increasingly poor country. Over 31 percent of its inhabitants live below the poverty line.23
24

It has the third largest

population of children living in poverty U.S. at 40.5 percent. poverty line are African American.

For the most part, those under the

19 20

New Orleans, Louisiana. Wikipedia. Louisiana Economy. State of Louisiana. www.la.state.gov 21 Mayor moves to heal New Orleans' lifeblood industry. CNN. October 7, 2005. 22 Peter Slevin and Peter Whoriskey. Burdens of Past Limit New Orleans's Future. Washington Post. November 10, 2005. 23 Key Indicators of Entrenched Poverty. The Brookings Institution. 2005. 24 Top Ten Cities with Highest Rate of Child Poverty. U.S. Census Bureau. Census 2000.

Indeed, there is a very wide gap between the haves and the have nots of New Orleans. comparison of two New Orleans neighborhoods demonstrates this disparity.
Neighborhood Characteristic Distance to Sea Level Population Racial Composition Poverty Rate Average Household Income College Graduates Most Common Occupation Children in Private School Children Living with Married Parents Home Ownership Living in the same House Since 1995 Lakeview 5 feet below 9,875 94 percent Caucasian 5 percent $63,984 49 percent 16 percent professional, scientific and technical 66 percent 78 percent 69 percent 57 percent Lower Ninth Ward at sea level 14,008 98 percent African American 37 percent $27,459 6 percent 14 percent healthcare and social assistance 8 percent 25 percent 59 percent 74 percent
Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Analyzing this table, it is clear that neighborhoods are clearly segregated by income, poverty rate, completed education, and race. In fact, New Orleans ranked second among the nation's big

metropolitan areas for locating tax-credit subsidized units in extremely poor neighborhoods and first for locating such housing in predominately African American neighborhoods.25 Simply put, if you were poor and African American, you lived nowhere near Caucasians who werent.

Another gap between these two groups was their access to cars. In the New Orleans metro area as in the rest of the nation, about 5 percent of non-Hispanic whites lacked auto access. By contrast, 27 percent of African Americans in the New Orleans area lacked access to a car, compared to 19 percent of blacks nationwide.26 This additional economic indicator would prove fatal for thousands of New Orleans residents in late August 2005.

2005 was by far the busiest hurricane season on record. By late August, the alphabetically named storms had already reached the letter K. (By contrast, a Category 5 storm that struck the south Florida coast in August 1992 was named Andrew, which caused $45 billion in damage.) By Friday, August 26, 2005, Hurricane Katrina had cleared Floridas south coast with less-than-expected damage.
25 26

Katrina: Issues and the Aftermath. The Brookings Institution. Ibid. 7

Swirling across the Gulf of Mexico, the storm gained tremendous strength and started towards New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

On Saturday, August 27 the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was briefed by the US Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the levees and water pumps protecting the city from flooding, that they would not likely hold back Katrinas storm surge. The state government implemented plans to allow large amounts of car traffic to leave New Orleans at a rate of 18,000 per hour. Those with cars left. Those without were told by Governor Kathleen Blanco, There will be all sorts of modes of transportation available to those who have no transportation.27

On Sunday, August 28, newly elected New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation and opened the Superdome sports center in the downtown area as a last resort for those who were not able to leave. The plan was for those who sought refuge there would wait out the storm and then go home.

By the time it struck land on Monday morning, August 29, any Plan B would come too late. While New Orleans didnt have the direct hit it was expecting, its levee system, which kept the soup bowl city empty of lake and river water, had been breached in several areas. Many of those who chose to

wait out the storm in their homes found themselves on their rooftops seeking helicopter or boat rescue or simply stranded. Flooding reached the Superdome and chaos and death ensued. America watched a city of deserted, poor, mostly African Americans cling to rooftops awaiting rescue while others begged for help from the Superdome, standing next to an elderly people dying wheelchairs. It wasnt until Friday, September 2 that military personnel were brought in to evacuate the area.28

Almost 500,000 people along the Gulf Coast were displaced by Hurricane Katrina, the largest displacement of Americans since the Civil War. Approximately 150,000 of those lived below the poverty line, 50,000 elderly.29 The combination of those with either scarce resources or the ability to be self-sufficient was exacerbated by the storm and put a tremendous strain on neighboring cities and states taking in the displaced.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the Gulf Coast region were suddenly unemployed. The oil industry in the Gulf Coast was left severely handicapped, sending gas prices soaring nationwide. At least
27 28

Hurricane Katrinas Aftermath. The Washington Post. 2005. Hurricane Katrinas Aftermath. The Washington Post. 2005. 29 Von Drehle, David and Salmon, Jacqueline. Displacement of Historic Proportions. Washington Post. September 2, 2005

twenty oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico were either damaged, sunk, or lost.

One platform, 12 miles

offshore, beached itself in Mobile, Alabama. Port Fourchon, which services approximately 16 percent of the nations crude oil supply, was not only damaged, but also isolated from receiving repair. Reported the port director, Hurricane Katrina "will impact oil and gas infrastructure, not just short term but long term as well. The impact of the stormthe Gulf is shut down; all of the area of the storm is shut down; a half billion dollars a day of oil and gas is unavailable". Louisiana Highway 1, the only major access route to Port Fourchon, was 75 % submerged.30 Crude oil production dropped by 78 percent.31

Not only were platforms damaged or otherwise, refineries were cut off from power or damaged beyond immediate operation. The price of oil rose as high as $70 per barrel and long lines formed at gas pumps around the country.32 A ripple effect of the damage the storm caused immediately reached most Americans wallets, however only for a brief period of time.

On a national scale, the damage to tourism was close to negligible. However, the local effects in New Orleans will be severe. Local businesses and employment suffered greatly. Over 70 thousand businesses in Louisiana alone were in areas considered Federal Disaster areas.33 However, there has been argument that affects to GDP will be small in the long-term, and is not necessarily a good measurement of real impact. Rather NDP seems the better way to go.

The near-term disruption cuts real GDP in the quarter of the hurricane. The damage is limited, however, since activity usually revives quickly after such an event and the expenditures on repair, rescue and reconstruction are offsets. The real damage is done to net domestic product (NDP), which nets out the actual damages as capital consumption. NDP is really a better measure of economic welfare than GDP, but is quoted much less. Incomes will drop sharply, as rents, profits, and entrepreneurial income is reduced by the amount of the uninsured damage. The insured damage cuts profits of insurance companies. These impacts are in addition to the lost output caused by companies closing down for the hurricane and its aftermath. The result will be an even more negative saving rate in the third quarter.34 Its also predicted that the decrease in oil production and the reliance on tourism will be New Orleanss one-two punch. Since $13.5 billion is spent per year in travel-related businesses, involving 191,000 jobs, the impact of the hurricane equates to an ongoing loss of $37 million per day.35 In a poor city and
30 31

Economic Effects of Hurricane Katrina. Wikipedia. 2005. Hurricane Katrinas Aftermath. The Washington Post. 2005. 32 Economic Effects of Hurricane Katrina. Wikipedia. 2005. 33 Tables Related to Maps of Hurricane Katrina-Affected Areas. www.census.gov. 34 Wyss, David and Beth Bovino, Ann. U.S. Economic Update: Impact From Katrina Big, But How Big. Standard and Poors. 35 Ryan, Rae Anne. Testimony before Congress. American Society of Travel Agents. October 7, 2005.

state, this is much needed revenue and tax income lost to damaged property and infrastructure in addition to displaced employment.

Banda Aceh and New Orleans: Sister Cities in Redevelopment? The fact that both of these areas, halfway around the world from each other, held such similar characteristics prior to the disasters and face many of the same issues in redevelopment is more than just coincidence. Poverty, violence, and corruption have exacerbated the impacts of the disasters on a local level and could very well impede their redevelopment. Their recovery may not be so similar.

What the tsunami did in Aceh is expose its major issues: poverty, corruption, and conflict.

It is

expected that the tsunami will have limited economic impact on the economy in general, but will have a severe effect on local level, those areas that are rural, underdeveloped, and impoverished prior to the tsunami, according to the Asian Development Bank. Areas like Banda Aceh. Local fisheries have

been devastated and their most skilled labor lost. While there are attempts to rebuild the 44,000 hectares lost are being led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N. there are also new measures to zone coastal areas for environmental protection and thereby limit areas where noncommercial fishermen (among them the very poor) can fish. Additionally, this program is also funding the building of strong, safe boats and training.36

As for conflict, Jakarta agreed to a ceasefire with separatist insurgents in Aceh in order to allow relief workers to provide much needed aid, but only after receiving criticism of its decision to limit their entrance to the devastated province.37 After decades of conflict, this could be a strategy to force the province to finally comply with Jakarta and become an official part of the country. Jakarta certainly has much to lose if the province completely falls into deeper poverty, rampant disease, and further conflict. Since Aceh provides 30% of Indonesias oil, a chaotic region would be difficult for oil companies, such as ExxonMobil, the largest corporation in Aceh, to produce oil and employee people, either local or foreign. And even those companies are seen as being in Jakartas pockets. The company did

contribute over US $5 million to the relief effort in the province, although many believe it is either not enough or too little considering charges human rights charges brought against it. Even before the tsunami, ExxonMobil used Indonesian military personnel as security for its oil fields, fueling the anger of a people who have suffered abuses by that military for decades.38 There is incentive for Jakarta to make peace with Aceh, but may be only in the vain of bottom line interest and at a time of great duress.

36 37

Tsunami Reconstruction. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. March 16, 2005. Tsunami may throw 2M more Asians into Poverty. CBC News. January 13, 2005. 38 ExxonMobil, Aceh and the Tsunami: International Labor Rights Fund. National Public Radio. January 4, 2005.

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Aside from the conflict, Indonesia is cited as a very corrupt country. It is ranked the 11th most corrupt nation and is separated from the top (which includes Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Haiti) by tenths of a point.39 With the massive infusion of foreign aid from governments and private corporations has been poorly coordinated and charges of skimming, of both food and funds, have been charged of both Jakarta and leaders in Aceh. Such charges include the cutting of laborers wages, taking advantage of their dire situation and need for employment. Elected officials have also been accused of taking

percentages of funds before it ever is used for the intended purpose. Indonesias new president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, promised to fight corruption by developing an independent anti-corruption commission. Its first successful prosecution was that of the governor of Aceh for stealing funds to buy a helicopter.40 Joel Helman, the Chief Governance Advisor of the World Bank in Jakarta, said that the presence of so many aid agencies gave activists more courage to come forward than ever before. "What is going to make this reconstruction process successful is if local government groups, civil society groups, activists, can go and make these comparisonsit is going to reduce significantly the incentives to engage in corruption, because it's going to increase significantly the chances that they will be found out.41 The combination of revitalized economic activity and lowered conflict and corruption may prove to be the magic cocktail for this devastated region. The increased intervention from foreign countries and multilateral organization may force both the Acehnese and Jakarta to be on their best behavior to maintain or increase aid and sustain their business ties (and therefore tax revenue). Increased selfsufficiency and decreased reliance on oil may also prove to be part of Acehs pathway to increased power if not independence. There are arguments that many lives would have been saved in Indonesia had a tsunami warning system been in place, but considering the close proximity of the quake and that 100 foot waves hit the coast within minutes, such a system may have had very little effect. On the other side of the world, a days-old storm with clear direction drowned a major city, killing over 1,300 people along the Gulf Coast and severely damaging its local economies. Like the tsunami, New Orleans poverty and corruption were widely exposed and augmented by a slow, and many times, an inept government. It is clear that the haves left New Orleans well in advance of the storm, including the cynical ones who had heard before that the next storm was going to be the Big One. The have-nots had no way to get
39 40

www.nationmaster.com Harvey, Rachel. Corruption Challenge for Aceh Aid. BBC News. May 31, 2005. 41 Ibid.

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out of New Orleans. The governor had promised all modes of transportation would be available, yet the poor and the infirm were left. Yet, Greyhound ended bus service out of the city late Saturday and Amtrak, which runs on tracks that go through the city's levees, ended service on Sunday. New Orleans had a 45-page plan for such a natural disaster, but there was not one mention of how to evacuate those who could not evacuate themselves. As University of Alabama law professor Bryan Fair said, The people who were left behind in New Orleans are the people who are always left: the poor, the people without power, the people that our society doesn't care about."42 Had better planning been

implemented, a majority of the more than 100,000 left in the city (some under their own volition with the ability to get out) could have been evacuated and the death and destruction, to businesses through looting and spirit through degradation, could have been spared. Other issues the city faces in its redevelopment is bringing back those who were displaced. More than 60,000 homes are uninhabitable. Operating power, water, and waste removal is spotty throughout the city to this day. Out of the 120 schools throughout the, 73 were considered failing prior to the storm. Other than the close ties to the city as a people, which is very strong and the determination to not be driven away from their homes by a storm, there is little incentive by those displaced to return home. Thousands of the displaced are still living in hotels and motels through a FEMA program that has been extended. Jobs are being secured and children are being enrolled in schools in other cities. For many, this was the opportunity of a lifetime to start over fresh. Lives are being rebuilt, but not in New Orleans. Now that New Orleanss poverty issue has been exposed, its other main issue, corruption, is coming under immense scrutiny, especially in light of the fact that the city will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to rebuild better than before, as President Bush stated. This means, build a city where this doesnt happen again. But with corruption among government officials being endemic, it may struggle to do so. Businesses large and small are not particularly fond of doing business in New Orleans and was cited in a survey as one of the worst aspects of doing business because, they don't want to pay the corruption tax," said Rafael C. Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission. In addition to the private sector reluctance to do business, FEMA is charging the state with mismanagement of the $30 million aid package and is demanding repayment.43 The U.S. federal government faced with intense criticism for its mismanagement through hired and inept cronies by the Bush Administration, such as Katrina-entrenched FEMA director, Michael Brown, and its cancellation of funds to fix the levees prior to the storm, has an uphill battle. It also has an
42 43

Rulon, Malia and Scott, Katharine Hutt. Evacuation plan failed to consider those without transportation. Burlington Free Press. September 5, 2005. Peter Slevin and Peter Whoriskey.

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enormous deficit and an unpopular war bill to foot. It could be argued that its contributions to New Orleans rebuilding may be cosmetic and specific to the oil and shipping industry in order to maintain that vital part of the economy. Louisianas gross state product is about 1.2 percent and, as Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director of the Congressional Budget Office stated in a September 6, 2005 memo to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, stated, It is unlikely that production would be hurt that much for that long, however. Presumably some people in New Orleans and other parts of the coast will be able to return to work in one or two months, and construction employment will be picking up during the fourth quarter. Therefore, it is more likely that economic activity in the affected area would directly reduce the growth of GDP by less than 1 percent for both the third and fourth quarters. New Orleans, from a fiscal standpoint, is not a major loss to the aggregate. And, at this time, rebuilding has not begun as anticipated and many have not returned home and become employed in the area. It is a situation so large that more of those who can do something would rather point fingers than to take responsibility for an already broken city. With a fractured and, in many cases, corrupt local government and a misinformed federal government; the rebuilding of New Orleans will be a long, bumpy road. Banda Aceh and New Orleans each faced their largest disasters and destruction within 9 months of each other. They shared economic and political characteristics that impeded development before and will continue to impede it after the disasters. For the Acehnese, bound to their land through poverty, language, and geography, there will eventually likely be successful rebuilding. New Orleans, on the other hand, with a displaced people rebuilding lives in other places, may not be able to be anywhere close to what it once was.

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