Local company (CA) helps in Indonesia

By Arthur Williams, Free Press, Canada

Jan 03 2007

A Prince George-based company has been helping those whose lives were devastated by the deadly Boxing Day tsunami in Indonesia two years ago.

Simon and Co., a consultancy and engineering firm, is helping to build 267 permanent homes in northern Sumatra, Indonesia for tsunami victims, according to a report by the B.C. Ministry of Forests and Range.

Simon Yu, owner of Simon and Co. consultancy and engineering firm, says it will be building homes as part of a pilot project by Indonesia’s tsunami recovery agency.

“Building homes in Sumatra is quite challenging,” Yu said in a written statement.

“The homes must be affordable and able to withstand earthquakes, severe weather and termites. And because most of the road system along the coastline was destroyed by the tsunami, delivering supplies to remote communities often has to be done on foot.”

Using Canadian engineering standards, Yu’s company developed a wood-frame house design stronger and more durable than brick or cement-block buildings.

Pressure-treated structural timber and plywood from B.C. was shipped to Indonesia, where the homes are being assembled by local construction crews under Yu’s supervision.

Last year the B.C. government invested $200,000 to allow Simon and Co., Britco Structures, Winton Global and Chateau Building Products Ltd. to build demonstration homes in Sumatra.

The B.C. government, through the B.C. Institute of Technology, also trained Indonesian workers in constructing the homes.

Earlier this year, Britco Structures of Langley, B.C. was given a contract to ship 300 prefabricated homes to Sumatra.

Both projects are expected to lead to follow-up contracts for thousands more homes.

On Dec. 26, 2004, an earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggered a massive tsunami which devastated parts of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. Approximately 285,000 people were killed and another 1.7 million were displaced – whole communities were destroyed.

The tsunami caused an estimated $5.2 billion in damage and many thousands of people are still without permanent shelter. So far, only about 15,000 of the 120,000 new homes needed have been built.