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Date |
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Jannuary 9th, 2005 |
Subject |
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Earth quake & Tsunami Disaster |
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The News |
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Aceh tsunami survivors still
without aid, two weeks after disaster
by Ian
Timberlake and Cindy Sui
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Jan 9 (AFP) - Concerns
remained Sunday that an unknown number of tsunami survivors in Indonesia's Aceh province have not received any aid, two weeks after
the disaster that killed more than 104,000 people there.
Aid groups reported the unprecedented
humanitarian operation continues to gather momentum amid enormous logistical
and infrastructure problems, but conceded some of the most desperate and
isolated communities may not have been reached.
"It's impossible to estimate how many
people we're feeding," Maria Theresa De la Cruz, head of relief operations
in Indonesian for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), told AFP.
"We don't know whether the food
airdropped is distributed in all areas. In some areas it's organised. In other
areas, as soon as the chopper lands, everyone rushes there."
Without anyone on the ground, it is
difficult to determine whether the airdrops are getting to everyone who needs
them, De la Cruz said.
The IOM, which was one of the few foreign
non-government organisations operating in Aceh before
the December 26 disaster, is coordinating airdrops to areas cut off by road
with the
Another prominent aid group conducting
relief missions in Aceh, Oxfam, said there were over
100,000 people in 200 makeshift settlements across the province with
populations ranging from 30 to more than 3,000.
Oxfam's regional advocacy coordinator, Mona
Latzo, said a lack of coordination among aid groups
and the Indonesian government meant there was no way of knowing how regularly
some of the settlements were receiving aid.
"It's likely that many people have not
received continued aid. With over 200 communities, it's very difficult to keep
on top of who is getting what and when," Latzo
told AFP.
Latzo said
Oxfam was aiming to maintain contacts with a number of settlements so the
people there could be certain of a regular supply of aid.
The logistical problems at the two main
airports serving as hubs for aid distribution also continued to plague relief
efforts.
The airports -- in the provincial capital
of Banda Aceh and the city of
Latzo said a flight carrying vital equipment for Oxfam arrived in
She said Oxfam eventually decided to bring
the equipment in by truck, a much longer journey that
was extended after one vehicle went missing for two days.
"The (aid distribution) situation has
improved but we are still experiencing a good number of challenges and we are
trying to be creative and think of many different ways to do our work," Latzo said.
Meanwhile, survivors receiving regular food
and water at camps in and around Banda Aceh were
experiencing the next painful stage of their recovery, looking for financial
security with their homes, businesses and livelihoods destroyed.
"My life is in a mess now. Unless aid
funds come to us directly and quickly, we may all have to bury ourselves
together with the dead," 20-year-old Anita told AFP as she queued to
collect a bowl of rice and potato at a relief centre.
Anita, who worked in a brick factory that
was destroyed in the floods, said she would need 25 million rupiah
(2,500 dollars) to rebuild her house and for other financial assistance.
"But if you ask me what's in store in
the future, I just don't know. I don't see any light unless we get some
financial aid soon," she said.
"How long must we stay in these tents
by the roadside? It has been two weeks that we have sought shelter here. We
want to go home. But it has been washed away."
bur-kma/mfc
Source:
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/