PACIFIC DISASTER MANAGEMENT INFORMATION NETWORK
(PDMIN)
1 Jarrett White Road MCPA-DM, Tripler AMC, HI 96859-5000
Telephone: 808.433.7035 · PDMIN@coe-dmha.org
· http://www.coe-dmha.org
Indian Ocean Earthquake & Tsunami Emergency Update
October 13, 2005
Note: New content has
been inserted in red, italicized, bold font.
Table of Contents:
Overview......................................page
2-3
Indonesia.....................................page
4-8
Sri Lanka.....................................page
9-14
Thailand.......................................page
15-18
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’s Aceh province.
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:
· A team of
German and Indonesian scientists reportedly set sail Tuesday (October 11) for
Sumatra to begin installing a tsunami warning system. The system of sensors on the ocean floor and buoys on the
surface will reportedly be able to notify observation stations within 10
minutes of an earthquake capable of producing a tsunami.
· The International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said Wednesday (October 5) that it had
received US$1.5 billion dollars for tsunami relief and has pledged full
accountability for the sum. The
IFRC says that for Indonesia alone, it has received US$600 million
dollars. (DPA, Oct-5)
· According to a report by the IFRC, many
aid agencies wasted money after the disaster by failing to consult with the UN,
survivors, or other relief agencies.
Large amounts of clothing donated to victims following the disaster also
went to waste because of poor communication. The annual report, “World Disasters Report 2005” released by
the IFRC this week highlighted that despite a huge international response,
competition and duplication of effort caused “chaos.” (CNN, Oct-6)
· The UN says that in an unprecedented
response, donors have poured more than US$11 billion into relief and
reconstruction following the earthquake and tsunami disaster, but are
neglecting other emergencies. Egeland
says that donors already met around 90 percent of the UN’s own US$1.28 billion
appeal for funds for immediate and interim relief. According to Reuters Alertnet, governments, the World Bank
and the Asian Development Bank have paid or approved US$5.7 billion, or some 80
percent of the US$67.1 billion they had promised. (Sep-23, Reuters)
· The United Nations Joint Logistics Centre
(UNJLC) exited its tsunami mission on September 30, 2005. The final UNJLC
Bulletin on the Indian Ocean Tsunami Operation was issued on September 28. It will be replaced with the UN
Logistics Coordination Support (LCS) bulletin’s first edition on October 4,
2005. The UNJLC IOT website will
reportedly soon be replaced by the LCS website. (Sep-28, UNJLC) 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)
· 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. Indonesia’s chief of
reconstruction, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, on October 7 appealed to the
international community to continue to provide food aid to victims of last
year’s earthquake and tsunami disaster in Aceh.
· 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: At
least 6 killed in continuing violence in the east and north of Sri Lanka; Insurgency
violence continues in southern Thailand.
Indonesia
Organization
Overview …………………………………………………………page
5
Sectors……………………………………………………………page
6
Overview:
The head
of foreign peace monitors in Indonesia’s Aceh province says that the peace
process in the province could soon become irreversible, Reuters news agency
reports. Peter Feith, chief of the European Union (EU)-led Aceh
Monitoring Mission (AMM), said that separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels
would begin surrendering weapons during the second stage of disarmament on
Friday (October 14) expected to take around four days to complete.
Feith says that the Indonesian government plans to withdraw some 1,300 police
officers and 6,500 soldiers between October 14-24, which would include troops
from the Kopassus special forces. “I believe if we really reach the
mid-term point, Eid Al Fitr at the end of Ramadan, and we have completed the
second round, the process by and large is becoming irreversible…(It’s) very
hard to imagine the process can still backtrack,” Feith said. The AMM is
charged with overseeing the weapons handover of the GAM and Indonesian troop
withdrawal, key components of the historic peace deal signed between the GAM
and the Indonesian government on August 15 in Helsinki, Finland. Feith
also called upon the exiled GAM leadership in Stockholm, Sweden to come to Aceh
to witness the disarmament and withdrawal with their own eyes before December
26, the anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami disaster which devastated
Aceh, but also instigated the peace talks leading to the historic peace deal in
the province. “I believe the current leadership in Stockholm should start
thinking about strengthening links on the field. If they wait too long,
they will risk irrelevance and enter oblivion,” Feith said. Feith added that if
the disarmament and withdrawal were finished by the anniversary date, it would
be a “most fitting tribute” to the struggle for peace. According to the
monitoring body, the Indonesian government has withdrawn 6,671 soldiers and
1,300 police from Aceh, while GAM rebels have surrendered 243 weapons. Under
the peace pact, the rebels are expected to hand over 840 firearms in four
stages until the end of the year. The government will proportionally
withdraw all non-local military and police troops. The 226-strong AMM is
comprised of monitors from the EU and Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN).
Indonesia’s
chief of reconstruction on October 7 appealed to the international community to
continue to provide food aid to victims of last year’s earthquake and
tsunami disaster which devastated Aceh province. Kuntoro Mangkusubroto,
chief of the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR) said, “There is a
perception that the emergency conditions have passed because we’re now in the
reconstruction phase. This is wrong. The problems are so great, the
humanitarian needs are so immense, that the emergency continues.” Kuntoro
says that Aceh will need food aid at least through 2006. Reuters reports
that the UN’s World Food Program (WFP) will ask its board at a meeting in Rome
on November 7 to continue emergency food distribution in Aceh for the rest of
this year and 2006. Kuntoro said he had brought up his concerns with UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, UN special envoy for tsunami recovery, Bill
Clinton and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on a recent
trip to the US.
A team of German and Indonesian scientists reportedly set
sail Tuesday (October 11) for Sumatra to begin installing a tsunami warning
system. The system of sensors on
the ocean floor and buoys on the surface will reportedly be able to notify
observation stations within 10 minutes of an earthquake capable of producing a
tsunami. The stations will then alert local media and residents via mobile text
message, email and fax, said Idwan Suhardi, from Indonesia’s ministry of research
and technology, and will be operational by the end of the year. According to Freider Meyer Krahmer,
state secretary at Germany’s Ministry of Education and Research, the system can
also warn against storms and volcanic eruptions. The system reportedly will be expanded to cover all of
Indonesia. (Oct-11, AP)
|
Sector Status |
|
Affected Population
|
The death toll stands at 131,029, with some 37,000 others
reported to be missing. 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) |
|
Logistics |
For more logistical
information see: http://www.unjlc.org. |
|
Food |
WFP currently
operating three general activities: General Food Distribution (GFD), a School
Feeding Program (SFP), and a Maternal Child Nutritional (MCN) program. 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. WFP currently supplying daily rations to some 650,000 people. 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 |
BRR says the first
large-scale building of homes has been completed in Aceh, with around 10,000
houses ready for survivors. A
small number has been built on Nias Island. The agency says that another 20,000 houses were under
construction. (Reuters, Sep-30) The International Federation
of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said it was working with
other agencies to import and distribute 27,000 large tents to replace smaller
tents initially donated after the disaster. Another 15,000 pre-fabricated temporary housing units,
enough for some 60,000 people, are expected in November. (Sep-23, AFP) 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 |
GoI says that of an estimated 57,758 hectares (142,700 acres) of
devastated land, 20,000 hectares (17,300 acres) has been targeted for
rehabilitation for 2005. BRR
will rehabilitate 7000 hectares (49,420 acres), while the other 13,000
hectares (142,700 acres) will be rehabilitated by groups such as the ADB,
USAID and UNFAO. (GoI, Sep-26) 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 |
WFP has been appointed as
the UN Agency Focal Point for Security in Medan. (WFP) |
|
International
Financial Assistance |
The
Government of Sweden announced Thursday (October 6) that it would provide
debt relief of US$4.3 million to Indonesia. (GoS, Oct-6) Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on the international community to
disburse more of the billions of dollars of aid pledged for Aceh. Yudhoyono said that only around a
third of the US$3.5 billion earmarked for Indonesia has been disbursed. Yudhoyono also called on aid agencies
to speed up construction efforts, saying that only 6,000 of the 100,000 homes
needed have been built. 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) |
Sri Lanka
Overview…………………………………………………..page
10
Sectors…………………………………………………….page
10
Overview:
Jan Egeland, the UN
Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that development in Sri Lanka may become
long and difficult unless the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) turn a shaky Norwegian-brokered 2002 ceasefire into a permanent peace,
according to Reuters news agency. “If there is peace in this country, we
can perform miracles in the next couple of years, because there are enough
resources available…If there is no peace but war I foresee a long and difficult
humanitarian phase where we cannot go into development very effectively,”
Egeland said. With the November 17 presidential elections coming up soon,
Egeland called on the government to ensure continuity even if the government
changes. He urged Sri Lanka to follow the example of the peace deal in
Indonesia’s Aceh province. On August 15th, the Indonesian government and
the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) signed a historic peace agreement in Helsinki,
Finland, ending nearly three decades of violence which has seen up to 15,000
people killed. Peace talks were instigated by the December 26, 2004
earthquake and tsunami disaster which devastated Aceh province. Many had
hoped that the tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka would also serve as a catalyst for
finding a lasting peace in Sri Lanka, however, continuing violence in the east
and scattered violence in the north as well as the recent assassination of Sri
Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in August and the recent decision
by the European Union to ban the LTTE from visiting the EU, has stalled the
peace process in the country. A break in the LTTE between an eastern faction
and the main faction in the north in 2004 has been blamed for much of the
violence. “It’s very important that the parties to the conflict here see
what happened in Aceh. Everybody’s benefiting in Aceh. This
conflict is long overdue to be resolved,” Egeland said. Egeland is in Sri
Lanka to review the coordination of international humanitarian assistance.
(Oct-11, UNOCHA)
Retired Norwegian peace
envoy, General Trond Furuhovde, arrived Thursday (October 13) in the LTTE-held
town of Kilinochchi in the north to begin talks with the LTTE. According to the
Associated Press, he was accompanied by Ian Martin, a human rights
specialist. Martin is the chief of the Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights in Nepal as well as the former head of Amnesty International
(AI). Furuhovde reportedly met with LTTE political wing-leader SP Thamilselvan,
who planned to meet with Martin separately. Furuhovde is reportedly in
the country in an effort to jump-start the stalled peace process. There were no
immediate details available about the visit. Violence continued in the
country earlier this week, when four LTTE rebels were reportedly killed by
members of the breakaway eastern faction. The attack occurred in eastern
Vavunathivu village in Batticaloa district, located some 135 miles (220
kilometers) east of Colombo. On Wednesday (October 12) Defence Ministry
officials said that two school principals were shot dead in what appeared to be
retaliatory killings in the northern Jaffna area. According to military
officials, one principal was seen as pro-LTTE, while the other appeared to be
against some of the policies of the LTTE.
The NGO, World Vision
International (WVI) reports that a mapping project from the UN’s Humanitarian
Information Centre (HIC) supported by WVI, will provide Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) a means of putting project data onto maps of areas
affected by the tsunami. The maps
will show aid workers at a glance where relief programs are located and where
there are gaps in reconstruction and rehabilitation and aid delivery. (Oct-11, WVI)
|
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. 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. |
|
Coordination
|
The Humanitarian
Information Centre (HIC) in Galle has been working on a map to be used for
disaster preparedness and mitigation in the form of an evacuation plan for
the town. HIC is working in
collaboration with the GoSL.
(Oct-7, UNOCHA) 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. 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
|
WFP is planning to distribute 10,967 tons of mixed food
commodities to some 183,000 beneficiaries under Food-for-Work programs. Under the Food for Education Program,
WFP is planning to distribute 841 tons of food commodities. UNOCHA says school feeding activities
are ongoing and 102,000 primary school students receive mid-morning meals
each day. (Oct-7, UNOCHA) The FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture distributed paddy and
vegetable seed, fruit trees and fertilizer to some 2,000 tsunami-affected
farmers in Galle, Hambantota, and Matara. This was the second distribution program in the
south. Some 2,228 farmers
received a similar distribution in April. (FAO, Oct-4) The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and FAO
distributed 2,628 fishing nets and 90 engines to 248 tsunami-affected
fishermen. (FAO, Oct-4) UNOCHA reports WFP Food-for-Work rehabilitation
activities/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 |
IFRC says an estimated 45,000 latrines and 76,000 wells
were destroyed or damaged by the tsunami. (Oct-10, IFRC) IFRC says it is producing and distributing over 3 million
liters of water a week, which benefits up to 50,000 people in the east of Sri
Lanka (Oct-10, IFRC). 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) |
|
Public Health
and Medical |
Following an outbreak of chicken pox in Kallady, a camp
near the eastern city of Trincomalee, IOM medical staff collaborating with
the Sri Lankan health department organized a vaccination campaign against
chicken pox for 200 children.
Some 35 cases among children and adults had been previously reported.
IOM also carried out an information campaign to halt the spread of the
disease. (Oct-11, IOM) 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
|
UNOCHA reports that inter-monsoon rains have fallen in
some areas and in Batticaloa, the upcoming monsoon will make permanent
building difficult until the New Year.
Access to camps will also be an issue when unpaved roads are made
impassable by the rains. (Oct-7,
UNOCHA) The Daily News reports that the Transitional
Accommodation Project (TAP) has completed 55,000 temporary shelters in some
500 sites to house over 500,000 people.
According to Commissioner General of Essential Services and Chair of
the Task force for Relief (TAFOR), Tilak Ranaviraja, who headed the project,
almost 95 percent of those living in tents or camps have now been moved to
the shelters. The project
was funded by UNDP, UNHCR, IOM and local and international NGOs. 38,600 shelters were constructed in
Northern and Eastern districts of Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara, Jaffna,
Killinochchi and Mullativu, while 12,260 have been constructed in the
Southern districts of Galle, Kalutara, Hambantota, Colombo and Matara. (Oct-11, Daily News) IOM says it has constructed over 3,000 transitional houses,
which are designed to last between two to four years. An additional 512 are currently under
construction. Land has been
allocated for 3,910 homes in 7 districts. (Aug-19, UNOCHA) IFRC says that it has appropriate land for over 4,000
houses across Sri Lanka.
(Oct-10, IFRC). IFRC
says it has pledged to build up to 15,000 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. 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) SP Thamilselvan, chief of the political wing of the 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
|
Ongoing violence in the east, some violence reported in
the north. At least 6 reported
killed. |
|
International Financial Assistance |
The Asian Development
Bank (ADB) announced a US$2 million grant from its Japan Fund for Poverty
Reduction to help restore income for poor families affected by the
disaster. ADB estimates more
than a third of the 500,000 people affected by the tsunami lost their
incomes. The project will
provide temporary income to 4,500 of the affected by employing them to
improve drainage systems for damaged roads. (Oct-11, ADB) 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 the LTTE rebels. The court is
expected to hold the hearing for the aid-sharing deal, formally known as the
Post-Tsunami Operations Management Structure (P-TOMS), on November 22, which falls
after the November 21 deadline for the country’s presidential election. The database of 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) 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.
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Sectors……………………………………………………page
16
Overview:
The
Phuket-based Disaster Victims Identification Centre (DVI) will be closed on
December 26, reports say. Thai Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya said
Wednesday (October 12) that some 1,000 bodies remain unclaimed by their relatives. Around 300 westerners are reported to
be among the bodies while the rest are those of Thai and other Asian nationals.
All the bodies have been processed by Disaster Victim Identification (DVI)
officials who are expected to move their office from Phuket to the capital,
Bangkok before December 26. The
unclaimed bodies would be kept at Bang Maruan morgue in Phang Nga province,
according to The Nation newspaper. However, Reuters reported conflicting
reports on Thursday (October 13), saying that Chidchai said that Thailand would
bury the 1,240 unidentified bodies in a mass grave in December. “We will bury those bodies and will
only dig them up when the families come to claim them” Chidchai told reporters
Thursday (October 13). He added that each body would be embedded with a
microchip containing all data on it.
Samples from the bodies would be preserved and work on identifying them
would continue, Chidchai said according to Reuters. The news agency said that Chidchai gave no explanation for
the plan. (Oct-13, Reuters) The
Bangkok Post reports that officials meanwhile plan to launch a door-to-door
project aimed at contacting relatives of the victims of the tsunami for them to
provide body identification officials evidence of the identity of missing family
members. (Oct-13, Oct-14-The
Nation, The Bangkok Post)
The
Prime Minister’s Office Minister Suranand Vejjajiva on Wednesday (October 12) announced
that the construction of the tsunami warning system is in progress and that 24
warning towers will be completed by the first anniversary of the disaster, on
December 26. Suranand says that
the government plans to build 62 warning towers, of which four will come under
the responsibility of Phuket’s local officials. Twelve towers will be complete by next month, the next 12 by
December 26 and the rest will be ready by next March. The warning towers will be linked to 12 warning stations and
will be overseen by the Ministry of Interior and cost Bt38 million (US$929,000). Maps and signs showing tsunami escape
trails will be finished by November 15, The Nation reports. (Oct-13, The Nation)
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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. There are 3,777
bodies of victims being kept at several identification units. The Thai Tsunami Victim Identification
(TTVI) Information Management Centre has identified around 2,419 bodies and
returned them to their relatives.
Remaining bodies are kept at Mai Khao morgue, according to police
Lt-Col Wiwat. He says forensic
experts and DVi officials could examine 30-50 bodies a week. (Oct-14, Bangkok Post) 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. (Aug-6-12, Phuket Gazette) The Thai Action Committee for
Democracy in Burma reported that 44 bodies of Burmese victims were identified
in September. (Sep-26,
Irrawaddy) 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) Some 30,000
Burmese workers were registered with the Thai government according to the
Irrawaddy. (Irrawaddy, Oct-6) The Chalong-based Thai
Tsunami Victim Identification (TTVI) center is expected to close some time
before the anniversary of the tsunami disaster on December 26, Pol Col
Khemmarin Hassiri, Superintendent of the TTVI’s Disaster Victim
Identification (DVI) unit said.
However, the exact date the center will be closed has not been fixed. (Phuket Gazette, Oct-4) |
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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) 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) |
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Logistics |
For logistical information see: http://www.unjlc.org. |
Food
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Water/Sanitation |
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Public
Health/Medical |
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Shelter |
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 |
Phangnga province is
reportedly building 4 warning towers in Takua Pa and Kuraburi districts which
will be completed before the government’s warning towers are ready for use,
TNA reports. The budget to build the warning towers comes from private funds
and community organizations. They are expected to be finished in two
months. (Sep-30, TNA) 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) |