NIAS - DECONSTRUCTION BEFORE RECONSTRUCTION

Based on our team's visits to SE Nias around 60% of houses in Gomo/Lahusa area are concrete structures. Between 70% and 80% of these are damaged beyond repair. The huge job now facing the owners is to demolish these dangerous structures and dispose of the rubble. Steel can be salvaged and resold as scrap but the task of smashing up entire buildings with hand tools is almost beyond comprehension. Many of these structures are still standing and they must now be demolised while unstable adding to the danger and difficulty of this essential work.

Land parcels are small in Nias and most home owners do not have enough space to build a new structure anywhere but on top of the existing foundations. There is no choice. The buildings must be knocked down and in most cases the foundations themselves will have to be removed and replaced. While it is true that some of the roofing materials in the standing buildings can be reused, the huge investment in masonry and concrete is now an equally huge liability. The area needs dozers to knock dangerous structures down and air powered stone hammers and power chisels to smash up the remains to remove the steel.

In Gomo district most people were working on clearing their building sites using their bare hands. Tools like sledge hammers are urgenly needed until earthmoving machines arrive.... or more accurately because there is almost no chance that the equipment will every arrive. Wooden houses are easier to salvage and some may be possible to reinforce with cable and steel brackets so they can be reused.