Lombok gets a new village

Finally we are please to tell everyone that the construction of all 109 houses has been completed.

It’s a great landmark for the community and for Ocean Blue Resorts that funded the project. The community and OBRI were all please at the news that this phase of the project had been completed. But there were mixed emotions.

After months of delays and overruns, massive over spending on the budget and the usual administration silly games, the celebrations will have to wait.

Why you all scream? After 4 years of building!!  Time for some hard facts and hopefully the right people reading. OBRI’s job was to build 109 houses. The regional gov’s job is to build a mosque, school, provide electricity and water. Simple really. This is my job and this is yours.

If the regional administration had actually put a schedule together at the same time that OBRI started building thing would be different. The community need their Mosque and everyone knows that they will not move to the new village without one being built. Despite requests in October last year (5 months ago) by OBRI to create a time line to construct all that the villagers need, the administration wait until OBRI has finished building. So now even though OBRI has done its job and the houses are completed, the community cannot move in.

Not a good story for this election time in Lombok. And the excuses are typical. Ie.. It’s the election time so everyone busy. It’s the end of the financial year. And the best one...We were waiting to see if OBRI would actually finish the houses.

For once, the CEO of OBRI was not available for comment, but this is a hot story that needs to be told. Watch this space. 

New hot-mix road starts

From Geluk Buso to Tiangah Ringgit is a worn out old track. But, with Ocean Blue Resorts and other hotels opening along this route the Bupati has allocated the Government budget to complete upgrade this 12km.

In March, true to the Bupati’s word the construction company moved in and started work. This will be a new trading highway for the community who will be able to access the new road and reach the markets of nearby villages.

Along with the road, the new power lines are be install. In the photos here, you can see the new poles and road widening. Gone (hopefully) are the road floods and inaccessible villages in the rainy season.

Let’s just hope that the Regional government actually finishes the road. This is Indonesia after all!!  

Windows to the future

There is a team of craftsmen that have been working in Selong, East Lombok of months now, hand making every window and door for the new village.

Martin Gow along with Pak Yasin were invited to visit the workshop on the outskirts of Selong to see firsthand the scale of the job in hand.

All 436 windows are individually measured to fix a specific house. At the specially built workshop the raw timber is sanded, cut to size and tooled for assembly.  The window frames are then spray painted to match the same colour as the outer frames on the houses. And finally all the glass is cut and  inserted into the finished frame, ready for delivery.

With only a team of 5 craftsmen, they have been working till midnight most nights to stay on schedule.

Now that’s dedication.   

Lombok people and the community spirit

It’s been a few months now since the bad weather and the road brought disaster to the village. But like all good communities, the Sunut people showed their true spirit.

Now March, and the weekly visits to the project show that we are close to completing. With the damaged houses being rebuilt, thanks to additional funding from Ocean Blue Resorts, it was time to celebrate the people and the efforts the builders are making to transform the 8 hectare building site into a real village.

Here are a few candid shots of the people that deserve the real praise. Whatever the weather throws at them at this time of year, the builders push on.

There is now a lot of frustration about the delays to completing the village. Simple things like the paint needed to waterproof the exterior and wood work are promised but never appear. And there is no news of the new Mosque being started. It’s a great pity to be finishing the houses to find that the government has not even started the school and mosque. 

 

Storm damage in Lombok

While images of Jakarta flooding fill the news headlines, our own project was also suffering from the severe weather.

On its weekly inspection tours of the new village, OBRI was able to inspect the damage. Five houses were destroyed in high winds. It was a huge blow to the project and moral. Having worked so hard and fast to stay on schedule, this was a major set back for the builders. 

With the rains continuing and the access road also damaged, rebuilding the houses would not be a simple task.  Plus there was the additional cost to worry about.

Fortunately no-one was injured when the winds ripped through the houses and sent them crashing down.

 

Seeing all the problems with rain, road access and lack of materials, it became clear that there was only one solution. CEO Martin Gow concluded that the priority was to get the road repaired first. This would mean materials could once again reach the site allowing the builders to build and rebuild. Even if it was still raining! He promised that this would be done immediately and OBRI would provide additional funds to ensure it happened. 

Rain, rain and more rain.

Along with the bad weather come new challenges. In the January storm, five houses were destroyed and will need rebuilding. More on this story later.

To add to the problems, the 12km track to the new village is now impassable. Heavy rain has washed away whole sections of road. As a result the delivery lorries cannot reach the building site and materials are running low.

To ensure the village is completed on schedule the answer had to immediate. OBRI met with Pak Camat to discuss the problem and agreed on a joint effort to repair the road. He was kind enough to supply the excavators and other heavy equipment, will OBRI provided funding, lorries and labour.

There was no time to loose as every day meant another days delay in finishing the project. Following the meeting with Pak Camat we immediately went to see what was needed. In total there were seven areas where the road had become a mud bath. Impossible for even cars to navigate.

It took 200 lorry loads of rock to repair the damaged road. Pak Camat promised the work would start the next day and true to his word, the repairs were completed in 4 days.

With the road temporarily repaired, materials to complete the village can now reach the site.

Thanks to everyone for working so fast to repair the road. And many thanks to Pak Camat for his support and cooperation.

The people that make it happen

Building 109 houses, a school, clinic, mosque and training center is no easy task. Especially when you are racing to complete the village before the rainy season!

But the great work that Team Sunut has done in sourcing materials quickly and getting them delivered to the construction site has been a real success story.

On site it is the Sunut community and their families that are really making a big difference. All helping to build a new future for their community. 

With about 200 people working, progress has been rapid.

 

On our last visit to the island before the new year, we managed to catch up with the Village Head also working on the site. Here are just some of the men, women and kids all helping to do their part.

OBRI will be back in the new year with a new update. Until then, Happy New Year to all our readers and followers.