At least 103 lecturers of the Banda Aceh-based Syah Kuala University (Unsyiah) were reportedly killed in the Dec. 26 strong earthquake and deadly tsunami which devastated coast areas in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh as well as North Sumatra province, the Unsyiah rector said.
"The report received from their families said about 103 lecturers died in the tragedy and 92 others are still missing," Dr.Abdi Wahab was quoted by the official Antara news agency Sunday as saying.
"Unfortunately," the rector said, family members of the lecturers reported missing till now failed to inform the university's management about that, Abdi Wahab said at a meeting of the State Universities' Rectors of West Indonesian region on the same day.
So far, the university said that it has lost around 195 lecturers, thus placing it in a shortage of human resources.
Some 144 children of the Unsyiah university's lecturers were also reported missing and killed, while the number of the university's students killed in tragedy was over 1,000 and around 202 units of the lecturers' houses were also totally damaged.
The university chief said that the school building remained intact and that essential damage was not found in the tsunami attack, because it is located in a high plot of land.
"Unsyiah has decided to ban all students to move to other state universities on a temporary basis, for example one or two semesters with a long distance study status. But half of the total students are allowed to move on a permanent basis, there is no other way except dissolving Unsyiah," he said.
The State Universities' Rectors Meeting for West Indonesian Region has 15 members. Its chairman Prof. Sutjipto said other members are ready to provide Unsyiah with mobile lecturers in replacement of missing 195 lecturers in addition to accommodating around 200 students of the medical faculty to have medical practices and a test. Sutjipto is also the rector of the Jakarta State University.
(Xinhua News Agency January 9, 2005)
