JAKARTA, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Residents of Indonesia's tsunami-hit Aceh province say the state agency in charge of reconstruction has done a better job this year than last but progress remained slow, according to a poll released on Friday. Sixty percent of 809 people polled by the Indonesian Survey Institute said the reconstruction agency, BRR, performed well this year, compared to 38 percent last year. Thirty-five percent polled this year said the agency worked quickly, compared to 20 percent the previous year. Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, was hardest hit among the areas in the Indian Ocean region affected by the 2004 tsunami that left about 170,000 people dead or missing in Aceh and displaced half a million. The poll also found that 31 percent believe BRR was transparent, compared to 18 percent who thought so last year. "In general there is a recognition of progress made by the government and BRR in Aceh, but this progress has not been felt strongly by the general population," the Indonesian Survey Institute said in its report. "Part of it may be substantive but this may be partly due to communication problems between the government and BRR on one side and the general public on the other," it said. It said respondents with higher education tended to have more positive assessment of BRR's performance than those who were less educated. Fifty-three percent of those surveyed said there had been progress in rebuilding of education facilities but approval figures for other sectors such as housing, clean water and roads were lower, the poll found. Heru Prasetyo, a BRR director for donor relations, said on Tuesday that efforts to provide housing for the survivors still faced obstacles two years after the disaster. At least 57,000 permanent houses of 128,000 required for tsunami survivors have been built but many have not been occupied, he said. Some survivors have chosen to remain in temporary barracks because they receive a daily stipend and other provisions, while others refuse to move because their new settlements lack electricity and other infrastructure. As many 45,000 people still live in temporary barracks, including 3,000 families who either rented homes or were squatters before the tsunami. A progress report released jointly by BRR and donor institutions last week showed 69 percent of working-age men and 36 percent of working-age women in Aceh's urban areas are employed. In rural areas 68 percent of the men and 45 percent of women are working. Officials say these numbers, strong in historical terms, reflect a bubble economy spurred by reconstruction activity driven in part by foreign aid pledges of $7.1 billion. The tsunami served as an impetus for a 2005 peace pact between the government and separatists, which ended almost 30 years of fighting that killed 15,000 people. On January 11, Aceh held a successful local election.
