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On June 12, the long-awaited Lampulo Wholesale Market opened in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, with a celebration attended by local government officials, AmeriCares President and CEO Curt Welling and many others. The event was the culmination of over a year of planning, with the idea of the market originally conceived a few months after the deadly December 2004 tsunami. That destructive catastrophe effectively wiped out the small scale fishing industry in Aceh, and with it, most of the region’s livelihood, as it directly or indirectly employed more than 50% of the area’s population.
Today, the reopened Lampulo Wholesale Market is an architectural icon in the area, able to be seen from miles away. Erected on the site of the former fish market, adjacent to the sea, the complex includes a spacious main hangar for the vendors, a packaging unit, storage lockers, and other modern amenities. The Lampulo Wholesale Market is now the central meeting place for approximately 1,000 local fishermen, as well as traders and suppliers of fishing industry-related products, foods and basic household necessities.
“This is a visible, tangible example of the post-tsunami recovery and renewal in Banda Aceh,” said Welling after the opening ceremony. “The construction of this market, with the support of the local people, is now a symbol of the strength and spirit of the Acehenese who have overcome a tremendous tragedy and are now focused on building a better future. All of us at AmeriCares are very proud to have played a role in the creation of the Lampulo Market.”
AmeriCares supported the opening of the new market through a $500,000 grant to partner CHF International, which oversaw its construction.
Here is a local website on the progress of the wholesale market in Aceh and the opening celebrations.