People still get killed. I live in fear. They are paid to protect the interests of the multinational oil companies that take our oil. They are the goons of companies like Mobil Oil. Deep-rooted suspicion of the army and fear of violence has hurt the local economy.
Many people are afraid to go to work.
Farmers are scared to go to their paddy fields, fishermen don't fish. Aceh, whose oil and gas wealth are vital to the Indonesian economy, has long battled central rule, first against Dutch colonisers and then the Indonesian government. The political and economic elite of Indonesia profit from the petroleum industrial activities carried out by multinational petroleum companies. Calls for a referendum to choose between independence, autonomy or federalism have grown since Habibie abandoned 23 years of opposition and said he would let the troubled territory of Timor choose between autonomy and independence. A few red flags bearing the star and crescent symbol of the separatist Free Aceh movement also stand by the roadside.