TSUNAMI DISASTER 2004

On December 26, 2004, an earthquake measuring 9.3 on the Richter Scale (SR) occurred in the Indian Ocean.  The earthquake was then followed by a Tsunami that hit almost the entire coast of Aceh even to various other countries such as Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand and even to Africa. the disaster claimed hundreds of lives and devastated the Aceh region. The province at the tip of the island of Sumatra was the most severely affected area of the disaster. More than 200,000 people died and the material losses were enormous. The United Nations declared the tsunami in Aceh the biggest disaster in humanitarian history in the 21st century. International aid from around 56 countries was mobilized to Aceh.

A few months after the tsunami, on March 28, 2005, another earthquake with a magnitude of 8.7 on the Richter Scale (SR) occurred in the north of Nias Island, North Sumatra. The earthquake was an accumulation of energy from the megathrust in the subduction zone due to the disturbance of the balance influenced by the earthquake that occurred in Aceh on December 26, 2004 (Nuryanto Heru, 2005). The earthquake on Nias Island also caused tremendous loss of life and damage in various aspects of community life and government.

 

 

REHABILITATION AND RECONSTRUCTION AGENCY FOR NAD-NIAS

To facilitate the recovery of Aceh and North Sumatra after the two disasters, the Government of Indonesia established the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD)- Nias on April 16, 2005, chaired by Kuntoro Mangkusbroto. The agency was established through Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perpu) No. 2 of 2005 concerning the Agency for the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Territory and Community Life of the Province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and Nias Islands of North Sumatra Province which was further legalized into law No. 10/2005.

The NAD-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR NAD-Nias) is tasked with rehabilitation, including the repair and restoration of public infrastructure and public services; economic infrastructure and facilities that include banking, finance and the business world, especially small and medium enterprises; health and psycho-social infrastructure and facilities; infrastructure and facilities for religious life and customs; educational and cultural infrastructure and facilities; land and building rights; adequate and humane temporary housing infrastructure; and infrastructure and facilities directly related to the normalization of government activities and community life.

Meanwhile, Reconstruction duties include, Spatial planning; Environmental management and natural resource management; Development of housing and settlement infrastructure and facilities; Development of public infrastructure and facilities and public services; Development of economic infrastructure and facilities which include banking, finance and the business world, especially small and medium enterprises; Development of infrastructure and facilities for religious life and customs; Development of educational and cultural infrastructure and facilities; Creation of a workforce that supports rehabilitation and reconstruction activities; and Development of infrastructure and facilities directly related to the normalization of government activities and community life; and Implementation of other reconstruction in according with the master plan and detailed plan.

 

 

RESCUE OF LAND ARCHIVES DUE TO THE 2005 TSUNAMI DISASTER

After the tsunami disaster occurred in Aceh, the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia formed a special team to rescue land records at the Aceh BPN Office. The team consisting of ANRI Archivists, National Library Conservators, NAD Provincial Archives staff, and Aceh BPN staff rescued BPN archives impacted by the tsunami.

On March 15, 2005, three months after the tsunami in Aceh, a National Army Hercules aircraft transported 13 tonnes of tsunami archives to Jakarta for restoration by the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI). The archives were archives of the National Land Agency (BPN) in the form of land certificates, measurement letters, notes and other important archives that were damaged by the tsunami.

These archives are very important to be preserved and restored because based on these archives, BPN can recreate new land certificates as replacements for certificates that were damaged or lost due to the tsunami disaster to return the civil rights of the people of Aceh.
After a several-month restoration effort led by Professor Isamu Sakomoto from Japan, by the end of 2006, 84 cubic meters of BPN archives had been preserved. The archives were then returned to BPN Aceh, from which BPN then created new certificates to be given to the people of Aceh who had lost their certificates in the tsunami.

 

 

RESCUE THE 2008 ACEH REHABILITATION AND RECONSTRUCTION AGENCY ARCHIVES

Based on the mandate of Law No. 7 of 1971 before the enactment of Law No. 43 of 2009 concerning the main provisions of archives which stated that the national archive of the Republic of Indonesia has an obligation to care for and preserve vital state documents, proof of the accountability of official performance, legal evidence in court and as a collective memory of the nation, it is necessary to manage and save the archives of the NAD-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) created from the implementation of rehabilitation and reconstruction for disaster-affected Aceh and Nias because these archives have a special historical value that will be useful for the wider community according to their interests.

Management and rescue activities of BRR NAD-NIAS archives were then carried out by the Archival Services Center as a form of implementing the rearrangement and rescue of BRR NAD-NIAS archives in accordance with archival principles and regulations in order to provide actual legal certainty in managing good archives used as a source of information.

During the course of its work, BRR has created many archives related to the implementation of rehabilitation and reconstruction in the Aceh and Nias regions in an effort to create a better life in the disaster-affected areas. The archives that have been collected eventually become a strategic value as the nation's cultural heritage in disaster management. Therefore, it is very important to be able to preserve it so that it can be utilized later, whether it is used in the fields of law, politics, finance, administration, research, and so as well.

 

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA FORM BATA IN 2009

In accordance with Presidential Regulation No. 3 of 2009, BRR's work period in its efforts to restore Aceh and Nias ended on April 16, 2009, and with the end of this period, BRR's presence in NAD and Nias also ended. Based on a memorandum of understanding between BRR, the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI) and the government of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, all archives that have been created from activities carried out by BRR are managed by ANRI in the Aceh province. In accordance with Law No. 7 of 1971 (currently Law No. 43 of 2009) on archival principles, ANRI, in its efforts, established an UPT called the Aceh Tsunami Archives Center (BATA) to manage these archives.

In accordance with the Regulation of the Chief of the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia Number 09.A of 2009, the Aceh Tsunami Archives Center (BATA) was established as one of the technical service units under the auspices of the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI) which has the task of carrying out processing, storage, preservation, and archive services for the rehabilitation and reconstruction activities of BRR NAD-Nias. Since its establishment in 2009, BATA has the main goal of making itself a world disaster study center that will benefit the community, not only in Indonesia but also abroad, therefore BATA with serious synergy continues to improve quality and build quality to achieve these goals.

 

 

THE PROGRESSION OF "BATA" TO "BAST" IN 2017

In the year 2017, the Aceh Tsunami Archives Center (BATA) changed its name to the Aceh Static and Tsunami Archives Center (BAST) with a wider range of responsibilities, specifically saving and preserving archives of vertical institutions as well as tsunami archives. The name of the Aceh Tsunami Archives Center (BATA) changed to the Static and Tsunami Archives Center (BAST) after improvements were made to ANRI Regulation Number 09A of 2009 so that ANRI Regulation Number 2 of 2017 concerning the Organization and Work Procedures of the Static and Tsunami Archives Center was born.

As the Technical Implementation Unit for the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia, BAST carries out the tasks of acquisition, processing, preservation, as well as services and utilization of static archives of central level state institutions in regions throughout Indonesia and tsunami archives which are under and responsible to the deputy for archive conservation.

 

 

TSUNAMI ARCHIVE RECOGNIZED AS MEMORY OF THE WORLD IN 2017

By 2017, the Indian Ocean Tsunami Archive was recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a Memory of the World (MoW) through a joint nomination between Sri Lanka and Indonesia as a form of learning value for people around the world. 

MoW is a recognition of heritage that has world significance as well as a source of history and heritage that can be accessed by the world community. The tsunami archive is also a collective memory for the world community because it has been able to create a spirit of unity, solidarity and humanity among the nations of the world. 

It is also a reflection to the world of the resilience, strength and fighting spirit of the people and countries affected by the tsunami. The Indian Ocean Tsunami Archive has learning value for the world community in terms of disaster, humanity and the development of disaster mitigation technology.

 

 

DISASTER ARCHIVE STUDY CENTER / TSUNAMI ARCHIVE 2021

 

In order to improve the accessibility and utilization of these archives as a source of learning and research, the Center for Static and Tsunami Archives established the Center for the Study of Disaster Archives / Tsunami Archives through the Decree of the Head of the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia Number 424 of 2021 concerning the Center for the Study of Disaster Archives / Tsunami Archives. This study center will serve as a reference for authentic and reliable sources of information for researchers who want to utilize the tsunami archives stored at the Center for Static Archives and Tsunami.

BAST as a disaster study center which was inaugurated on October 22, 2021 by Drs. Imam Gunarto, M.Hum as the Head of the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI) along with the Head of the National Library of Indonesia, Drs. Muhammad Syarif Bando, MM and Dr. Ir. Bima Maria Wibisana, MSIS as the Executive Head of the Civil Service Agency is an offering from the central government to the people of Aceh and the world in terms of disaster. This is so that we can still preserve the memories that have occurred to our posterity for future learning and if something similar happens in the future, we are all better prepared to face it.