The Indonesia's Aceh provincial governor office recommenced its activities, nearly two weeks after tsunami disaster hit the province on Dec. 26, media reported on Friday. 

The office operates with fewer employees, as the fate of some 900 officials remains unknown.  

The Indonesian home affairs ministry has also assigned a number of middle-ranking officials to support the administration in the province.

Deputy Governor of Aceh province Azwar Abubakar was quoted by the Jakarta Post daily as saying that the resumption of the administration's activities would help the oil and gas-rich province return to normal life.

"Thank God, some 60 percent of the office building can be used (for work)," he said, referring to the Aceh gubernatorial office in the provincial capital, which is located some 6 kilometers away from the coast.

Elsewhere in Banda Aceh, the capital of the province, the number of motorcycles and cars on the capital's main roads has started to increase. Several markets, shops and coffee stalls reopen, attracting crowds.

Meanwhile, volunteers and soldiers continue their efforts to evacuate bodies. According to an official in Aceh province, as many as 74,666 bodies had been buried as of Thursday morning.

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab predicted more dead victims under building debris and logs in several locations in the city that had not yet been touched.

Shihab said the government also decided to increase ferry trips between Singkil in nearby North Sumatra and Simelue island from twice a week to three times a week in a bid to distribute aid to the island, which was located the closest to the epicenter of the 8.7-magnitude earthquake.

(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2005)