Putting aid in place
China Daily  Updated: 2004-12-30 06:40

A year to the day that an earthquake hit Bam, the dusty desert town in southern Iran, nature struck again. The strongest earthquake in the world for 40 years struck under the sea northwest of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Massive sea surges (tsunamis) spread from its epicentre bringing death and destruction to the coastal areas of south and southeast Asian countries ringing the Indian ocean. Waves ranging in size from 10 feet to 30 feet were reported. Floodwater on some coastlines surged inland for several kilometres.

The health hazards were obvious: the unburied bodies which will quickly decompose in tropical temperatures; water supplies polluted from both huge quantities of salt water sloshing around and overflowing sewage; plus already over-stretched and under-funded health systems with acute shortages of medical supplies facing huge extra numbers of injured people. Further complications will be caused by disrupted communications and power supplies.

Similarly, the nations face severe economic consequences, not least those especially dependent on tourists - such as Thailand, the Maldives and Sri Lanka - with the disruption and damage the tsunamis have wreaked on their frail infrastructures. The floods have coincided with the peak of their tourism season.

An even more urgent challenge to the nations offering aid is whether they will honour their pledges. People in Bam ruefully complained yesterday that while US$1 billion of aid was promised in the wake of their quake last year that killed 30,000 people, only US$17 million was ultimately paid.

Tens of thousands still lack basic facilities, let alone have help to overcome the traumas they have suffered. There is always a difficulty for donors balancing emergency help with long-term strategic support, but a pledge is a pledge.

Excerpts from the Guardian News Service, Britain.

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