Sudden freedom

NG BAO YING

LIKE many other tsunami survivors, Nasliadi Muhammadan, 43, has been going from town to town in Aceh looking for work.

The survivors are all trying to return to the life they knew before the Dec 26 disaster.

But in Nasliadi's case, he was in prison when the earthquake and tsunami struck. His jail was among at least three in Aceh which let their prisoners go that day.

Nasliadi, serving a sentence for smuggling marijuana, had nine years left to go when he was freed.

But he said he is waiting for a letter from his prison warden telling him when he must return to jail.

'He will send it to me after the prison is rebuilt,' he said. 'Then I will go back. It is the right thing to do.'

Aceh, the area worst-hit by the tsunami, continues to struggle to get back on its feet. Housing, jobs and schools remain top priorities.

Not surprisingly, prisons have not been a main focus of aid efforts.

Meulaboh prison chief Meurah Budiman, 37, recalled: 'I saw water. It was rising very fast. I had no choice, I ordered my staff to open all the cells.'

Many tales of unbreakable bonds emerged in the wake of the tsunami, but this one is special: The day after the disaster, 50 prisoners appeared at Mr Meurah's house.

'I was shocked, but touched,' he said. 'I could not recognise everyone because all my files were lost. I had to ask, Who are you?' and they would tell me, Pak, I was your prisoner'.'

The survivors have been re-registered and granted non-convict status as he does not plan to take them back when the prison is rebuilt.

It was a similar story at the Aceh Singkil prison, where Nasliadi had been sent two years earlier.

One of his fellow convicts, Rusli, 25, recalled the day the ground convulsed. 'We were very frightened. We could not wait for someone to open our cell,' he said. 'Then we found we could just break down the wooden window, and we ran out.'

Outside, they were shepherded into prison cells that were still intact. But a few days later, they were set free because there was not enough space to keep them for long.

Thus, the tsunami reunited Nasliadi with his wife and children, even as it tore thousands of other families apart.

His wife Fatimah, 25, recalled the day: 'I was so happy to see him, I could not believe it. I cried. Our three children hugged him and we all cried.'

It is unclear whether the Aceh Singkil facility really wants its former inmates to return when it is rebuilt, or if, like at Mr Meurah's Meulaboh prison, the events of Dec 26 will wipe their records clean.

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