Over recent weeks, frustrated and suffering inhabitants in Indonesia's westernmost province have been displaying white flags due to the state's delayed response to a succession of fatal deluges.
Precipitated by a uncommon cyclone in last November, the deluge claimed the lives of over 1,000 individuals and displaced a vast number across the region of Sumatra. In Aceh province, the most severely affected province which accounted for nearly half of the fatalities, numerous people still are without easy access to clean water, food, electricity and medical supplies.
In a demonstration of just how frustrating managing the crisis has grown to be, the head of a region in Aceh became emotional in public in early December.
"Can the authorities in Jakarta be unaware of [our plight]? I don't understand," a weeping the governor declared publicly.
Yet President the President has declined foreign aid, maintaining the state of affairs is "under control." "The nation is able of handling this calamity," he informed his cabinet last week. Prabowo has also to date disregarded appeals to designate it a national disaster, which would release emergency funds and expedite recovery operations.
The leadership has been increasingly scrutinised as unprepared, disorganised and out of touch – descriptions that experts argue have come to define his time in office, which he was elected to in last February on the back of populist pledges.
Already in his first year, his major expensive school nutrition programme has been embroiled in scandal over mass foodborne illnesses. In the latter part of the year, a great number of citizens demonstrated over unemployment and rising costs of living, in what were some of the biggest public displays the nation has witnessed in decades.
Currently, his administration's reaction to November's floods has become yet another challenge for the leader, even as his approval ratings have stayed high at about 78%.
Recently, scores of protesters gathered in Aceh's capital, Banda Aceh, displaying pale banners and calling for that the central government opens the path to foreign assistance.
Present within the gathering was a little girl clutching a sheet of paper, which read: "I am only very young, I wish to grow up in a secure and stable place."
Although usually regarded as a sign for giving up, the white flags that have appeared across the province – on broken rooftops, next to washed-away banks and outside places of worship – are a plea for global support, protesters say.
"The flags are not a sign of we are giving in. They serve as a SOS to capture the attention of allies internationally, to let them know the conditions in Aceh now are very bad," stated one local.
Complete villages have been eradicated, while widespread destruction to transport links and public works has also stranded a lot of people. Survivors have spoken of sickness and starvation.
"How long more should we bathe in dirt and floodwaters," shouted a individual.
Provincial authorities have contacted the United Nations for assistance, with the Aceh governor announcing he accepts help "without conditions".
Prabowo's administration has said aid operations are ongoing on a "countrywide basis", adding that it has disbursed some a significant sum ($3.6bn) for recovery efforts.
Among residents in the province, the circumstances brings back traumatic recollections of the 2004 devastating tidal wave, arguably the deadliest natural disasters on record.
A magnitude 9.1 ocean tremor unleashed a tsunami that created walls of water reaching 30m in height which slammed into the Indian Ocean shoreline that day, claiming an believed two hundred thirty thousand people in more than a dozen nations.
Aceh, already ravaged by a long-running civil war, was one of the hardest-hit. Survivors explain they had barely finished reconstructing their communities when tragedy hit once more in last November.
Assistance was delivered more quickly following the 2004 tsunami, despite the fact that it was much more catastrophic, they say.
Numerous nations, international organizations like the International Monetary Fund, and charities poured significant resources into the rebuilding process. The Jakarta then set up a specific body to oversee money and aid projects.
"All parties responded and the region bounced back {quickly|
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