The Red Cross slogan 'the greatest tragedy is indifference' thankfully has no place among the thousands who have taken it upon themselves to assist in any way possible the survivors of the Dec 26 killer tsunami.

If numbers matter, then the death toll of those killed stands at more than 150,000. In Malaysia, the states of Kedah, Penang and Langkawi took the brunt of the tsunami which left 68 dead and 299 injured.

The calamity, which ravaged 12 countries including Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, was at its worst in Indonesia where 104, 055 have been reported dead to date.

And as world leaders pledge financial and other assistance toward relief and reconstruction works, some individuals worry that aid to the worst affected people - the Acehnese - will not reach them.

That worry is led to the formation of AltAid Acheh-Tsunami by several Malaysians with the aim of articulating the concerns of Acehnese tsunami survivors.

AltAid comprises 21 members, including social activists Zaitun Mohamed Kasim, Alice Nah, Sonia Randhawa and Josef Roy.

Zaitun said they received word from friends in Aceh, alleging that relief supplies were being siphoned off by the military for their own family members first.

"The tsunami happened in Aceh, a province that has been under military operations for 30 years and under a state of emergency since May 2003," she said

"The Indonesian military is continuing its operations in the area, in spite of the unprecedented humanitarian disaster. This is deplorable."

As such, AltAid has called on the United Nations to pressure the Indonesian government to investigate claims of corruption and intimidation by soldiers stationed in Aceh.

It recently presented a letter to the UN Development Programme assistant resident representative Anis Yusal Yusoff in Kuala Lumpur. This was for UN secretary-general Kofi Annan who was in Jakarta on Jan 6 to attend a high-powered meeting to discuss responses to the disaster.

System 'opaque'

AltAid has also been told of eyewitness accounts that the military wants aid recipients to show their Kartu Tanda Penduduk identification card, when it knows that most documents have been destroyed.

While there has been no dearth of aid, AltAid is afraid that this will fall into unintended hands due to a lack of transparency on how the supplies are being handed out.

"We ask the Indonesian government to clarify the aid distribution system currently in place," Zaitun said.

The group wants more civilian aid groups to help out in Aceh, as well as for international and independent observers to be sent there to monitor the situation.

Sonia said the forum is committed to people-to-people support in the face of a humanitarian crisis that is being exacerbated by alleged human rights violations.

"AltAid was formed afer we learned that Acehnese who were in dire need of aid were not getting it. The forum will play its role in filling gaps in ensuring that help and aid reaches those really in need ,"she said.

AltAid had to date raised about RM30,000 for Aceh.

"Because of our long association and connection with the people in Aceh, we can channel the aid directly to them. And we can be sure that they will get it," she added.

JJ RAY started her career with a mainstream publication. A non-conformist, she soon saw the barriers that went up whenever, through her writing, she tried to make the world a home for one and all.