PACIFIC DISASTER MANAGEMENT INFORMATION NETWORK (PDMIN)
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Indian Ocean Earthquake & Tsunami Emergency Update

 

September 22, 2005

 

Note: New content has been inserted in red, italicized, bold font.

 

 

Table of Contents:

 

Overview......................................page 2-3

Indonesia.....................................page 4-9

Sri Lanka.....................................page 10-15

Thailand.......................................page 16-19

Overview

 

·   The overall focus of attention is on long-term recovery and rehabilitation for the December 26, 2004 earthquake and tsunami disaster.  The dead and missing toll from tsunamis triggered by the undersea earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale off the west coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island was 232,010 (Jun-22, Reuters) people along the coastal areas of 11 countries in the Indian Ocean.  Over 1.7 million are reported to be homeless.

 

·   Tsunami-related deaths were recorded in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Maldives, Bangladesh, Somalia, Tanzania and Kenya.  The loss of life was particularly severe in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.  Nearly 166,000 dead and missing are from Indonesia.  The dead and missing toll in Sri Lanka climbed to nearly 39,000.  In India, at least 10,672 died in Tamil Nadu State and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.  The death toll in Thailand is around 5,400, including about 1,953 foreigners from at least 36 countries.  More than 400 combined deaths have been reported in the other countries.

 

·   Coordination: 

 

· Indian Ocean Earthquake-Tsunami Flash Appeal Expenditure Tracking: http://ocha.unog.ch/ets/Default.aspx

 

·   International Assistance: 

 

· Interpol says that it plans to create a worldwide database of missing people to help identify victims faster in disasters like the tsunami.  The organization says that the immediate response of countries to rush in their own teams following the tsunami had created major coordination problems.  Richard Noble, Interpol chief, says that a database could help eliminate duplication as countries respond to disasters.  “What Interpol says is, we’ve got to build one system, where one family member can go to one place in one country, give the information one time and it goes into all the relevant systems,” he said at the annual meeting of the 182-nation world police body.  (Sept-19, Reuters)

 

· Today (Thursday, September 22), at a Washington DC meeting of the Global Consortium on Tsunami Recovery, which was convened by UN tsunami recovery envoy, former US President Bill Clinton, key agencies in the reconstruction of tsunami-affected areas endorsed a plan to rebuild livelihoods, improve shelters, and build local government capacity.   The meeting included heads of UN agencies, World Bank, the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), members from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and senior officials from countries affected by the disaster.  The plan would also reportedly take into account people displaced by conflict in Sri Lanka and Aceh. (Sept-22, UNNS)

 

· On Monday (September 19), about 200 personnel from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) took part in the region’s first joint disaster drill in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  The 10-nation drill operated on the premise that Malaysia’s Selangor state bore the brunt of a major earthquake.  Raman Letchumanan, head of ASEAN’s environment and disaster management unit said that the drill revealed the need for improvements including cutting bureaucracy and improving coordination on the ground.   (Sep-19, 21, AFP)

 

· According to the United Nations Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC) Bulletin no. 53, the UNJLC will exit its tsunami mission on September 30, 2005. At the request of the Government of Indonesia and the UN Country Team, a UN logistics coordination service, called the UN Logistics Coordination Support (LCS) will be established to provide integrated, multi-modal logistics coordination support to aid groups during reconstruction. UNJLC’s staff in Indonesia will reportedly provide the staffing. (Sept-8, UNJLC)

 

· UN raised its initial appeal of US$977 million to US$1.086 billion.  (Apr-6, Reuters) Reuters reports that government and multilateral agencies have pledged around US$9 billion in aid for nations affected by the disaster, while global private donations amounted to almost US$5 billion.  (Aug-11, Reuters)

 

·   Food:  WFP expects to feed about 800,000 people in Indonesia for at least another year; in Sri Lanka, about 915,000 people being fed—distributions will discontinue in August and will give way to targeted and recovery-oriented approaches; in Thailand, food assistance provided to some 26,000. 

 

·   Health/Medical:  WHO estimates 500,000 people were injured.  There were scattered reports of diarrhea, malaria, dengue, measles, pneumonia, tetanus and skin infections, but no outbreaks. 

 

·   Security:  Violence ongoing in southern Thailand.

Indonesia

 

Organization

 

Overview …………………………………………………………page 5

 

Sectors……………………………………………………………page 6

Overview: 

 

World Food Program (WFP) deputy executive director Sheila Sisulu on Monday (September 19) said relief efforts in Aceh need to be sped up because thousands of survivors still rely on basic rations. Sisulu says that however, there has been no sign of a drop in aid commitments despite other natural disasters shifting attention from the disaster.  “It is a relief effort that has not fully moved to a recovery phase and it will be disastrous if it didn’t move, gear up to that phase…I need to emphasize that a second crisis need not happen.  And it will not happen only if people are moved to the next phase of recovery as soon as possible,” Sisulu said. She made the comments after visiting Aceh province last week. According to Reuters, WFP fed about 1 million people after the disaster and is currently supplying basic daily rations to 650,000 people, as well as a separate feeding program which involves more than 300,000 children.  (Sept-19, Reuters)   

 

The head of the Aceh and Nias Rehabilitation Agency (BRR), Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, has vowed to speed up reconstruction work, especially for people left homeless by the disaster.  The BRR head says that so far, the agency has built about 6,300 houses, including 870 in Banda Aceh.  He says that by the end of December, the agency hopes to have completed 30,000 permanent houses.  With the signing of the peace accord between the government and Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the reconstruction process is expected to accelerate.  Kuntoro says that the BRR has also completed the rebuilding of the highway which connects Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, the rebuilding of some 120 schools and had also completed reconstruction work on ports in Meulaboh and Ulelheu. (Sept-19, Jakarta Post) 

 

On Sunday (September 18), the Indonesian military (TNI) began withdrawing from Aceh province the first group of some 2,600 soldiers scheduled to be pulled out of the province by Tuesday (September 20).   “Four battalions, each consisting of 650 troops, will leave Aceh on September 20.  Other departures of troops are scheduled for September 21, 23 and 25,” army spokesperson Lt. Colonel Erie Soetiko said Monday (September 19).  According to reports, more than 3,000 soldiers and police have already left Aceh province under a historic peace agreement between the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and Indonesian government.  About 6,000 troops will have left under the first phase of the peace pact by September 25.  The first batch of troops were withdrawn after the GAM fulfilled its part of the first phase of the agreement with the Indonesian government, by surrendering a fourth of its weapons. Under the terms of the peace accord, the rebels had to surrender some 210 of their 840 weapons at four undisclosed locations across Aceh by Sunday (September 18) in the first stage of disarmament.  After this month, three more rounds of weapons handover and security troop withdrawals will be held until the end of December.  Indonesia had more than 30,000 soldiers and 15,000 police in Aceh before the deal was signed.  The weapons handover and troop withdrawal is being overseen by the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), which is comprised of some 200 European Union (EU) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) monitors.   On August 22, Indonesia withdrew some 1,200 non-local troops from the province.  Last week (Wednesday, September 14), some 1,300 Indonesian police from the elite mobile brigade (BRIMOB) unit withdrew from Aceh province.  After the withdrawals are over, about 14,700 local TNI troops and 9,100 local police are expected to remain in Aceh.

 

Sector Status

Affected Population

The death toll stands at 131,029, with some 37,000 others reported to be missing. 

 

The Aceh Central Bureau of Statistics says that 7,000 surveyors will launch a population census in Aceh to more accurately gauge how many died from the disaster.  Aceh had a population of 4.2 million people, according to the 2003 national census.  (July-5, AFP)

 

The Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias (BRR - Badan Rehabilitasi dan Rekonstruksi) says that there are over 500,000 IDPs in Aceh and over 22,000 in Nias. In Aceh, about 250,000 are staying in tents, while about 150,000 are in temporary government shelters.  The remaining 100,000 are either staying with host families or are rebuilding their homes.   (Jun-19, GoI)

Coordination

The BRR has requested that NGOs engaged in rehabilitation and reconstruction to submit progress reports on their ongoing activities.  BRR is currently collating data from implementing NGOs ahead of the Aceh Recovery Forum and the Consultative Group on Indonesia meeting scheduled for October.  BRR says that it is requiring NGOs to submit their first report by September 16 and the second report by December 2. BRR says NGOs can access guidelines and monitoring forms from www.e-aceh-nias.org (BRR website) or by requesting forms at projects@brr.go.id  (Sep-6, GoI)

 

The BRR will oversee reconstruction.  The agency will be headed by former mines and energy minister Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, who will manage the US$4.84 billion fund.  (May-9, Reuters, BBC)

 

The GoI has collaborated with NGOs and donors to initiate the construction of the website, e-Aceh, in response to the need for transparency and coordination of reconstruction.  (www.e-aceh.org)

 

The World Bank says it and its partners have launched a newsletter, titled Ceuremen (mirror), to keep tsunami survivors apprised of the reconstruction progress in Aceh.  (Sept-19, World Bank)

Logistics

For more logistical information see: http://www.unjlc.org.

 

Indonesia air operations information is available at www.unhas.it (Sept-14, UNJLC)

Food

WFP currently operating three general activities: General Food Distribution (GFD), a School Feeding Program (SFP), and a Maternal Child Nutritional (MCN) program.  Food-for-Work reportedly has not started due to difficulties in implementation.  GFD will only target vulnerable groups over the coming months.  However, supplementary feeding activities will increase.  SFP expected to reach 340,000 and MCN plans to reach 180,000 beneficiaries by December.  For August, planned GFD distribution stood at 739,000 beneficiaries in 18 districts in Aceh and North Sumatra, while SFD for August was planned at 286,300 beneficiaries in 10 districts in Aceh province.  (Aug, WFP)

 

The FAO says that farmers have started replanting in some fallow fields, but it may take up to five years to rehabilitate the worst hit areas.  Farmers on the east coast have reportedly defied some expectations, however, on the harder hit west coast, the FAO estimates that some 17,400 hectares (42, 995 acres) of land were severely affected and 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) have been completely lost. The FAO says that salinity of the soil has become less of a concern.  (Aug-29, AP)

 

The British Weekly New Scientist reports that any fear that fertile agricultural land in Aceh has been wrecked by seawater from the tsunami, is unfounded.  Waves swept up to 4.5 miles (7 kilometers) inland and covered nearly one-third of Aceh’s agricultural lands.  However, despite the optimistic outlook, scientists say that some problems remain, such as changes in drainage patterns and some rice fields remaining inundated with sea sediment.  Some of the problems may take a decade to fix, according to the report.  (Aug-24, AFP)

 

WFP expects to feed up to 800,000 people for another year.  (June 22, Reuters)

Water and Sanitation

IFRC says overall water distribution figure for Aceh and North Sumatra stands at more than 1 million liters per day.  IFRC says water and sanitation activities continue to benefit some 113,000 beneficiaries.  (Aug-11, IFRC) 

Public Health/Medical

The World Health Organization (WHO) has established an integrated health emergency unit for disaster response, located at the Ministry of Health in Jakarta. The unit is coordinating inputs and tracking progress of ongoing activities in disaster affected areas. (Aug-15, Reliefweb)

 

West coast lost some 50-70 percent of its health services.  (Jan-24, The Age) Tsunami destroyed 30 health clinics out of 240, seriously damaged 77, and caused minor damage to 40 others.  (Jan-18, UNJLC)

Shelter

Indonesia-Relief.org says that according to reports by the Office of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Indonesia, Aceh Jaya district is in need of more houses.  So far, only some 4,810 houses have been committed, with 815 under construction.  A total of 16,283 houses need to be built in the district.  The BRR has requested that Catholic Relief Services (CRS) build 5,000 houses in the district. (Sept-16, Indonesia-Relief.org) 

 

At a BRR’s Shelter Working Group meeting in Nias, standardization codes for timber for housing reconstruction in Nias was finalized.  UNHCR in cooperation with NGOs, will import legal timber from countries, including Mexico and South America. (Sept-21, Indonesia-Relief.org)

 

The Canadian Red Cross (CRC) has committed to rebuild 12,500 homes in Aceh and Nias, with 6,000 homes to be rebuilt in Aceh and 2,500 in Nias by the end of 2005 and an additional 4,000 in Aceh to be completed by 2007. (Aug-14, Indonesia-Relief.org)

 

The IFRC has committed to build, as of August 1, more than 27,000 permanent new homes and to repair more than 7,000 other houses. IFRC estimates that more than 65,000 people are living in government-built barracks and says that many of these will need repair in the upcoming months. IFRC will help build extensions to existing homes to alleviate overcrowding for an estimated 16,500 families living with host families.  The UN estimates the displaced could be living with host families for one to two years.  IFRC will also replace some 33,000 tents which have reached the end of their life-span.  (Aug-11, IFRC) 

Infrastructure

According to Indonesia-Relief.org, the BRR has approved UNICEF’s US$90 million program which UNICEF reportedly signed in April to build and rehabilitate 500 schools in Aceh.  The UNICEF project will reportedly begin this month.  (Sept-14, Sept. 12, Indonesia-Relief.org, GoI)

 

IOM will build 200 transitional schools in Aceh for around 44,000 students.  The US$2.3 million project is funded by UNICEF.   (Aug-30, IOM)

 

The UN said that the tsunami eroded some 97 percent of the GDP in Aceh, amounting to an estimated US$4.5 billion in damage. (July-15, The Jakarta Post)  

 

116,880 houses were destroyed or damaged in 2,496 villages throughout 17 affected regencies (kabupaten) from a total of 21 in Aceh.  Of these, 57% were destroyed and 12% sustained major damage.  The total amount of settlement areas affected by the tsunami amounted to 173,673 hectares (429,200 acres), of which 35% of the villages were completely destroyed.  (Jun-19, GoI, IOM)

Security

Aid groups say that the disaster has left women in Aceh more vulnerable to rape and harassment and has urged greater protection. Particular risks were found in overcrowded public areas that are not segregated by gender. (Aug-26, Reuters)

International Financial Assistance

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) says it has approved three grants totaling US$6 million dollars to help improve livelihoods, rehabilitate natural resources, and provide earthquake-resistant housing in affected areas of Indonesia. (Sept-9, Xinhua)

 

The European Commission (EC) will open a “Europe House” in Banda Aceh this month, which will facilitate coordination among donors on rehabilitation and reconstruction.  The EC delegation in Jakarta will run the house.  The European Union (EU) has pledged some €207 million (US$250 million) for Indonesia.  (Sept-9, EC)

 

The World Bank says that reconstruction and monetary aid pouring into Aceh could put livelihoods at risk once the money dries up unless the economy is strengthened.  World Bank data shows the province’s annual inflation rate at 17 percent, versus 7 percent in other parts of Indonesia.  Reuters reports that Aceh’s unemployment rate is at 27 percent and around 600,000 people will be pushed below the poverty line, with daily earnings below US$1 within the next 6 to 18 months.  (Aug-25, Reuters)

 

The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) reports it has raised US$1.3 billion to help victims in Indonesia. (July-1, Indonesia-Relief.org)

 

GOI put the December tsunami/earthquake losses at US$4.5 billion.  The Consultative Group on Indonesia, made up of 30 international lenders, pledged US$1.7 billion in tsunami aid for 2005, consisting of US$1.2 billion in grants and US$500 million in soft loans.  GoI will accept the offer of a debt moratorium from the Paris Club.  The total debt on which repayment will be delayed is US$2.6 billion.  (Mar-14, Tempo Interactive) Indonesia has some US$48 billion in foreign debt to donor countries under the Paris Club. (Mar-14, Xinhua)  The World Bank says that about US$500 million has been raised from foreign donors for reconstruction thus far.  The Steering Committee of the Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Aceh and North Sumatra will manage the funds.  (Jun-26, AFP)

 

BRR head Kuntoro says that around US$2.8 billion is ready to be spent on reconstruction projects in Aceh, out of which about US$1.9 billion had come from international and private sector donors.  (Jun-25, Reuters) Indonesian House of Representatives on June 4 approved 8.2 trillion rupiah (US$863 million) for fiscal year 2005 for Aceh and Nias (Jun-12, GOI)


Sri Lanka

 

 

Overview…………………………………………………..page 11

 

Sectors…………………………………………………….page 11

 

Overview: 

 

International donors have urged the Sri Lankan government and rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to refrain from violating a Norwegian-brokered 2002 ceasefire following the August killing of Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.  Officials from Norway, the United States, Japan, Britain and the European Union met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York to ensure that Kadirgamar’s assassination does not restart civil war in the country which has seen over 64,000 people killed.  The countries are part of the so-called Co-Chairs of the 2003 Tokyo Donors Conference, at which international donors pledged some US$4.5 billion in aid to Sri Lanka to help rebuild the war-torn country.  Additionally, many of the same donors pledged much of an additional US$3.2 billion in aid following the devastating December 26 tsunami disaster which left nearly 39,000 people dead and missing in Sri Lanka. “The co-chairs look to all parties to refrain from violence and from statements and acts that could undermine progress toward the peaceful resolution of the conflict after the elections,” the donors said in a statement issued on Monday (September 19) in New York.  The officials said they were hopeful that the peace process would be reinvigorated following a November 17 presidential election, announced by Sri Lanka’s Election Commission on Monday.  The election was prompted by a Supreme Court ruling in August that said that current President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s term ends this year.  The presidential election in November will most likely put Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse against opposition leader and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.  Rajapakse has said that if he is elected, he will drop plans to share tsunami aid with the LTTE and to review the 2002 ceasefire.  The current Prime Minister has also reportedly made a deal to ally with the Marxist People’s Liberation Front (JVP) by agreeing to review the ceasefire, an agreement that Kumaratunga, who leads the SFLP, opposes.  Aside from the JVP party, Rajapakse has also aligned himself with the hardline Buddhist monk party, which opposes the LTTE.  Wickremesinghe has reportedly vowed to revive the federal peace deal with the LTTE and restore the economy.

 

The Sri Lankan government said Friday (September 16) that the state of emergency in the country would be extended for another month.  On Wednesday (September 21), the parliament formally approved the extension by a vote of 118 to 24.  The state of emergency was imposed for 10 days shortly following the assassination of Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.  The emergency laws grant sweeping powers to security troops to arrest and detain suspects without warrants.  The government has blamed the LTTE for the August 12 killing, however, the rebels have denied any involvement.  The LTTE have asked the government to lift the state of emergency, saying that the expanded police powers allow security troops to target the Tamil minority and could possibly derail proposed talks on the shaky Norwegian-brokered 2002 ceasefire in the country.  Ceasefire review talks have recently been on hold over disagreement between the government and LTTE on a neutral venue for talks.

 

Sector Status

 

Affected

     Population

Sri Lanka has combined the figures for its dead and missing into one figure for dead and presumed dead and missing.  The combined total stands at 38,940.  (Jun-22, Reuters) Of the total, approximately 5,000 have been declared missing. (May-3, DPA)   The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says that some 518,698 people remain displaced with most living with relatives and friends, some in “collective accommodation centers” or in camps.  UNICEF says that according to the GoSL, 800,000 people were initially displaced.

 

As of August, 2005, some 800,000 people remain displaced in Sri Lanka by both the island’s long-running civil war and the tsunami disaster, the Global IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) Project of the Norwegian Refugee Council reports.  Around 457,500 people displaced by the tsunami are still living in temporary shelters or with friends and family. Another 347,500 people remain displaced by the conflict.  The tsunami disaster of December 26, 2004, had initially added one million displaced to the country.  A Norwegian-brokered ceasefire in February, 2002 reportedly led hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the conflict to return home.  However, the Global IDP Project says that the breakdown of peace talks in 2003, ceasefire violations, land issues, and slow reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in tsunami-affected areas has virtually halted the return.  The Global IDP project notes that after years of neglect, IDP’s displaced by the conflict may increasingly benefit from post-tsunami relief efforts.   However, projects for conflict affected IDPs is underfunded and hampered by continuing political instability, as well as the unresolved issue of whether tsunami aid is to be shared between the government and LTTE.  

 

 

Coordination

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) signed an agreement with the GoSL to support the creation of computerized database centers to register people affected by the tsunami. Centers will be established at the Presidential and District Secretaries to collect information on the displaced and track the delivery of assistance to affected areas.  According to IOM, the database will identify needs of tsunami-affected individuals on a case-by-case basis to ensure that people receive the assistance they need and avoid duplication.  (Sept-9, IOM)

 

The UN Development Program (UNDP) announced the launching of the web portal, known as the Development Assistance Database (DAD), which will help to better coordinate and monitor post tsunami recovery aid.  TAFREN is spearheading the online database with support from UNDP.  The website can be found at: http://dad.tafren.gov.lk. (Sept-2, UNDP)

 

Joint mechanism deal, officially known as the Post-Tsunami Operations Management Structure (P-TOMS) to allow committees from the LTTE, the government and Muslims to discuss and monitor tsunami aid projects.  Sri Lankan Supreme Court temporarily blocked the deal and is expected to decide on a ruling in September. 

 

The Task Force for Relief (TAFOR) will collate and analyze data, coordinate and facilitate relief measures connected to healthcare, education, foreign donor assistance and food relief. TAFOR will be based and managed from the Ministry of Defense. Another task force, Task Force for the Reconstruction of the Nation (TAFREN), has been given responsibility of spearheading reconstruction, assessing the damages, and coming up with a master plan to rebuild infrastructure. Food relief will be channeled through the Ministry for Relief, Rehabilitation, and Reconciliation (RRR) together with Commissioner General of Essential Services (CGES).  Responsibilities connected to IDPs, Transit Camps, and liaison with the District Secretaries will be the task of the CGES. (Feb-9, UNJLC)

 

For further information, check the TAFREN website at http://www.tafren.gov.lk/ or the CNO website at http://www.cnosrilanka.org/ The Ministry of Relief, Rehabilitation, and Reconciliation’s website, www.mrrr.lk contains additional information. 

 

Information on many NGO activities can be obtained from the following link: http://www.humanitarian-srilanka.org/ (under Tsunami 2004 Information Center)
Logistics

For additional logistical information see: http://www.unjlc.org.

 

Food

UNOCHA reports a total of 600 WFP Food-for-Work rehabilitation activities/projects requiring 5,252 MT of food were approved in July.  Projects will be implemented from July to December and will benefit some 138,000 people.  (Aug-26, UNOCHA)

 

WFP says it is feeding some 915,000 people. 

Water and

     Sanitation

Xinhua reports that The Daily News said that a large-scale Red Cross assisted program on construction, rehabilitation and improvement of water supply and sanitation facilities in affected areas would be launched soon.  The project will be implemented in Hambantota, Galle, Matara, Ampara and Jaffna districts at a cost of some US$100 million.  (Aug-24, Xinhua)

 

IFRC says it is producing and distributing over 3 million liters of water a week, which benefits up to 50,000 people. 

 

Public Health

     and Medical

IOM has given medication to some 30,000 children in Mannar district, which will protect them up to a year from worms.  The de-worming campaign is supported by AUSAID and will be complemented with other projects to promote better hygiene and health. (Sept-14, IOM)   

 

Shelter

IOM says it has constructed over 3,000 transitional houses, which are designed to last between two to four years.  In the first two weeks of August, IOM finished 403 transitional houses and an additional 512 are currently under construction.  So far, land has been allocated for IOM to build a total of 3,910 transitional homes in 7 districts.  (Aug-19, UNOCHA)

 

IFRC says it has pledged to build up to 15,000 houses.  IFRC currently has sites confirmed for over 2,800 houses.  (Aug-11, IFRC)

 

World Bank in Sri Lanka found about 90,000 homes fully or partially destroyed. The Bank has allocated initial US$40 million for permanent housing cash grants. (June-2, World Bank)

 

TAFREN chair Mano Tittawela said that 80 percent of the required permanent housing for the displaced will be completed before the end of this year.  (July-7, GoSL)
Infrastructure

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has approved US$310 million in donor funding to reconstruct 1,137 kilometers (706 miles) of road and 25 bridges.  US$221 million will be allocated for road development projects and US$89 million for bridges and causeways.  The Cabinet has also approved the purchase of 100 new passenger train carriages for the Sri Lanka Railway Department.  Sri Lanka’s Road Development Authority estimates that some 2,425 kilometers (1,507 miles) of coastline out of a total of 2,825 kilometers (1,755 mile) was directly affected by the disaster.  (Sept-22, UNOCHA)

 

The Ministry of Housing and Construction Industry, Eastern Province Education and Irrigation Development, has launched a program to reconstruct school buildings in the Eastern Province.  UNOCHA says that almost 50 percent of the school buildings were destroyed or partially damaged due to the tsunami.  (Aug-19, UNOCHA)

 

The Ministry of Tourism and the Sri Lanka Tourist Board have reportedly developed short- to long-term recovery plans for 15 coastal towns in Galle district.  The resort towns will reportedly be master-planned.  UNOCHA reports the return of local and foreign tourists in Galle town and nearby popular local beaches.  (Aug-11, UNOCHA)

 

SP Thamilselvan, chief of the political wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said that more than US$1 billion was needed to rebuild Tamil areas

 

A total of 77,561 houses have been damaged or destroyed by the tsunami, including 41,393 houses that were completely washed away, according to the Census and Statistics Department.  (Apr-29, Daily News)

 

The Minister of Agriculture says that direct damage to the farmers of the tsunami was some US$3.5 million.

Security

 

International Financial Assistance

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on September 12 delayed a hearing on a controversial government deal to share about US$3.2 billion in tsunami aid with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels.  The Court was expected to hold a hearing to help decide the fate of the aid-sharing deal, formally known as the Post-Tsunami Operations Management Structure (P-TOMS), but the court is now expected to hold the hearing on November 22.  That date falls after the November 21 deadline for the country’s presidential election. 

 

Latest official figures released last Friday (September 2) shows that as of the end of July, foreign donors have delivered less than half of one billion dollars pledged for tsunami recovery.  The database of Sri Lanka’s Task Force for Rebuilding the Nation (TAFREN) shows that international donors had spent US$459 million dollars on tsunami relief projects as of July 31.  In addition, actual pledges recorded on the database total US$1.04 billion dollars, short of the US$3.2 billion the government said it had received from international donors in May. However, TAFREN chief Mano Tittawella, said that the donor pledges would go up as figures are entered into the database.   (Sept-2, AFP)

 

According to a report in the Asian Development Bank Outlook (ADO) 2005 Update, Sri Lanka’s progress in post tsunami recovery has been rated as poor, citing political impediments as one of the reasons for the slow progress.  Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Sri Lanka that it is exceeding budget targets and urged measures to cut subsidies, in order to save the economy.  UNOCHA reports that forecast inflation is at 14 percent this year, up from 7.9 percent in 2004 and 2.6 percent in 2003. Economic growth was projected at 5.3 percent, down from 5.4 percent in 2004, and 6 percent in 2003.  (Sept-15, UNOCHA)

 

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka said on August 25th that tsunami aid has helped Sri Lanka’s balance of payments, a record of receipts from and payments to the rest of the world, swing to a surplus in the first half of the year.  The Central Bank said that the balance of payments rose from a deficit of US$233 million dollars in the same period last year to a surplus of US$174 million dollars.  Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that Sri Lankan officials say that Sri Lanka saved some US$300 million to US$500 million in debt repayment after international lenders cancelled or rescheduled loans.  (Aug-25, AFP)

 

Officials say that international donations and debt relief have reached some US$3 billion over a period of three to five years, nearly twice as much as what the government has estimated it will cost to rebuild.  (May-20, Reuters)

 

The government has estimated that it will cost up to US$1.6 billion to rebuild infrastructure destroyed or damaged.  The so-called Paris Club of rich creditor nations in March offered to freeze Sri Lanka’s $300 million in debt payments until the end of 2005.  The government has said it wishes to see that extended for three years.  (May-11, AFP)  The Paris Club has agreed to allow the deferred payments to be repaid over five years, with a one-year grace period.  Sri Lanka owes the Paris Club some US$4.6 billion. 


Thailand

 

 

 

Overview. ………………………………………………. page 17

 

Sectors……………………………………………………page 17

 

Overview: 

 

Earlier this week, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) said that the economy in southern Thailand has yet to recover from the tsunami and is being hurt by unrest in Muslim–majority provinces.  According to the BOT, the tourism industry has suffered the worst of the downturn.  The BOT says that the number of foreign tourists in the south dropped by more than 26 percent to 165,456, compared to July of last year, while the rest of the country is showing a rebound in the number of tourists.  In Phuket, arrivals dropped by almost 54 percent, versus the same time period last year.  The number of foreign tourists arriving at the Sungai Kolok checkpoint in Narathiwat province, dropped by around 25 percent.  The bank says that tourists appear to be bypassing Narathiwat as arrivals in Yala and Songkhla rose by 4.9 percent and 2.5 percent respectively in July.  The BOT says that following the disaster, arrivals had dropped by some 10 percent in the first quarter but in March, the figure had increased by 2.38 percent, versus March 2004.  (Sept-19, AFP)

 

Environmental expert, Achara Asavarujikulcahi, a researcher from Mahidol University’s Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, says that debris and garbage from the tsunami has become a worry as much of it was not treated before being buried.  She says that much of the rubbish contained toxic metals and other hazardous materials and is fearful that the rubbish would contaminate underground water sources and soil. (Sept-20, Bangkok Post) 

 

On Wednesday (September 21) Thailand launched the “Tsunami Memorial International Competition,” for the best design for a memorial for the people who died on its shores in the tsunami disaster.  The winning design will reportedly be built in a national park on Khao Lak.  (Sept-21, Reuters)    

 

  
Sector Status

Affected Population

Latest death toll issued by the Thai Ministry of Interior Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) is at 5,395.  The number of Thai deceased is at 1,972 and foreign nationals at 2,248, with another 1,175 of unknown nationality.  Number of missing is at 2,817.  Of those, 1,924 are Thais.  (May 13, UN)

 

The head of the victim identification centre, Police General Noppadol Somboonsub, says that by the end of 2006, investigators should finish identifying all the bodies of the people killed in Thailand by the tsunami.  said that the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification (TTVI) Information Management Centre has identified around 2,200 bodies out of about 3,777.  Foreign experts helping to identify unknown bodies killed in the disaster will leave Thailand by the end of the year when their Thai colleagues will take over, Somboonsub says. (Aug-25, Reuters)  

 

The TVVI has sent 3,241 DNA samples abroad to the International Commission of Missing Persons in Bosnia, Beijing Genomic Center in China, the National Board of Forensic Medicine in Sweden and 260 to agencies in other countries. Some 120 foreign workers from 20 different countries are still working on the effort, including New Zealand, Canada and Norway.  (Aug-6-12, Phuket Gazette)

 

The Tsunami Action Group (TAG), a migrant advocate group, and the Law Society of Thailand have estimated that between 700 and 2,500 Myanmar migrant workers went missing. Many of them were not officially registered, and do not appear to be included in the official list of the killed. (June-8, Amnesty International) Other estimates have the number at 1,000 to 7,000.  (Jun-27, Irrawaddy)

 

In Phang Nga and Krabi provinces, UNDP and UN Habitat are working with indigenous communities and the Community Organizations Development Institute (CODI) to ensure the tenure of community land.  (Aug-11, UNCTT)  

 

Land title disputes continue to slow down recovery in Phang Nga and other affected provinces. The World Bank is working with authorities to ensure access to legal assistance by vulnerable groups. (Aug-11, UNCTT)

Coordination

As of September 1, the Thai Government has funded some US$1.06 billion in emergency response and recovery which includes funding from the central budget, the Prime Minister’s Office and bank credit. The UN Country Team in Thailand reports that this shows an increase in spending of US$180 million in the last month.  Over US$6 million was spent on general assistance to victims, and compensation to fisherfolk and beach vendors.  The Relief Fund for Disaster Victims has disbursed about US$15 million as of the end of August 2005. The fund consists of private donations worth US$31.75 million. (Sept-9, UNCTT) 

 

According to the UN Country Team in Thailand, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, announced towards the end of August that he was assigning three of his deputy prime ministers with specific responsibilities: Ministers Jarusombat and Liptapanplop are responsible for victim assistance in Krabi, Phang Nga and Phuket, and Minister Krea-ngam will oversee disbursement of compensation funds. Minister Vejjajiva, from the Prime Minister’s Office, has been assigned overall responsibility for the country’s disaster alert system. (Sept-9, UNNCTT)

 

According to the Department of Disaster Preparedness & Mitigation (DDPM), further assistance totaling 1.43 billion baht is still needed in the affected areas. (Aug-11, UNCTT)

 

Thailand’s National Disaster Warning Center, the first among tsunami-affected countries, formally opened on May 30. In the first phase, it will focus on earthquakes and tsunamis before extending to other disasters. (May-31, Bangkok Post)

 

The Donor Assistance Database (DAD) is being updated to include UN tsunami program tracking, and is expected to be completed by the end of the month. The DAD was installed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the help of UNDP to aid tracking of assistance to the country. Information will be updated on a monthly basis, according to UNCTT. (Aug-11, UNCTT) 

Logistics

For logistical information see: http://www.unjlc.org.

Food

 

Water/Sanitation

 

Public Health/Medical

A Disease Control Department official, who asked to remain anonymous, says that budget constraints and violence are the reason for the sharp rise in malaria cases in the country’s three southernmost provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani. The department says 2,534 people in the provinces were infected between January and June, an almost 150% jump from 2004.  (Aug-3, Bangkok Post)

Shelter

Anupong Sungauannam, president of the Association of Tourism Operators, about 80 percent of housing will be available this month for residents in Phang Nga province. About 50 percent have received some government assistance. (Aug-14, The Nation)

 

World Vision is building 800 homes in the five affected provinces of Phuket, Ranong, Krabi, Trang and Phang Nga. (Aug-15, World Vision)

 

Ministry of Social Protection estimates number of people still living in shelters in Phang Nga and Krabi provinces have fallen from approximately 7,000 people at the beginning of July to 1,200 people in Phang Nga and 4,000 people in Krabi as of early August.  (Aug-11, UNCTT)

Infrastructure

Tsunami-affected areas in worst-hit Phang Nga province are expected to operate only 20 percent of hotel room capacity by the end of this year as there have been a long delay in loans for reconstructions. (Aug-14, The Nation)

 

The UNCTT says that the GoT has continued to pay out compensation and relief assistance, however, the Thai Ministry of Interior Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) reports that as of August 1, further assistance totaling 1.43 billion baht (US$35 million) is still needed in the affected provinces. (Aug-11, UNCTT)

Security

The US, Britain and Australia have issued travel warnings to its citizens, advising against non-essential travel to the south.  Insurgency violence continues in three southernmost provinces (Yala, Narathiwat, Pattani).

International Financial Assistance

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has set aside US$1.7 million for Thailand, to help develop long-term solutions for tsunami-affected areas, especially Krabi, Phuket and Phang Nga.  Funds will come from the Asian Tsunami Fund, which was set up by the ADB in February with an initial contribution of US$600 million.  (July-12, Phuket Gazette)