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Science > Prophecies-Of-Nostradamus |
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07 Jan 2005 01:48:25 AM |
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TSUNAMI DEATH TOLL RISES ABOVE 165,000......................7/1/5 |
Tsunami toll rises above 165,000
By Ian Timberlake
January 7, 2005 - 5:27PM
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan Friday toured the devastation from
Asia's tsunami as the world body took charge of the relief operation
for the disaster which left over 165,000 dead.
A day after making an impassioned plea for almost $US1 billion ($A1.32
billion) in immediate aid, Annan flew into the Indonesian province of
Aceh, worst-hit by last week's killer waves.
The United Nations is mounting its largest ever relief operation, but
warned its efforts faced major obstacles as transport links and
communications in Aceh had "essentially collapsed" in the disaster.
Indonesia, and especially Aceh, should receive about $US371 million
($A488.29 million) of the $US977 million ($A1.29 billion) overall
appeal by Annan, the UN's humanitarian coordination agency said.
"As many as two million people there are in need and one million of
them require immediate assistance," assistant emergency relief
coordinator Yvette Stevens told journalists in Geneva.
The death toll from the catastrophe soared to over 165,000 Friday as
over 19,000 more deaths were confirmed. Indonesia's health ministry
said the death toll in the country had risen to 113,306.
But the United Nations has warned that tens of thousands more dead may
be as yet unaccounted for in Indonesia.
World attention was also focused on the desperate plight of many
survivors living in camps with limited drinking water and poor
sanitation in Sri Lanka, where 30,615 people have been reported killed.
Powell headed today to Sri Lanka after saying he was awestruck by the
devastation in Indonesia.
The United Nations said some $US167 million ($A219.79 million) from the
emergency relief money would head to Sri Lanka.
"We are hungry, people are searching for food," says Pakeela Ummah, a
48-year-old mother of three crammed into one of the makeshift camps in
Kattankundy on Sri Lanka's battered eastern coast.
Survivors in the camp said they had only enough to make one meal a day
of rice and lentils, with little powdered milk for babies and just two
litres of drinking water per family with an average of six children.
"The main problem is we don't have food. The government is still
sending more refugees but there is no assistance from the government,"
says KM Muhad, who was appointed by the community to take charge of the
camp.
In India, the United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF said it was
counselling more than 100,000 children who were traumatised by the
death of relatives in the tsunami-hit southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Fifty-two countries have reported dead or missing in the tsunami
disaster, leading to the unprecedented level of pledges to help
survivors.
In Thailand, at least 2,510 foreigners were killed when they were swept
away from the country's touristy coastlines the day after Christmas.
Thailand's government insisted Friday that no foreign victims of the
tsunami have been buried in mass graves or cremated, amid concerns in
Western countries about the remains of their nationals.
But despite the outpouring of generosity, there were also growing
concerns about how aid money will be spent.
Annan told the conference of 26 nations on Thursday that 977 million
dollars was required now. In previous disasters, much of the aid
pledged in the emotional immediate aftermath never materialised after
the crisis passed out of the spotlight.
"Many of the pledges have come to us in cash and in kind. We need the
rest of the pledges to be converted into cash quickly," Annan told the
summit.
"We also need more people and more material to get the aid to those who
are most in need, often in remote areas."
Foreign ministers and health and aid ministers of the European Union
were due to hold hastily arranged talks Friday in Brussels on further
ways to help the tsunami-hit countries.
Proposals being considered include debt relief for the afflicted
countries, support for a tsunami alert system for the Indian Ocean
region, and a "rapid response" humanitarian force for future
catastrophes.
The EU's presidency says the main aim is to coordinate ideas ahead of a
UN-hosted donors' conference in Geneva next week.
Louis Michel, the European Union commissioner for humanitarian action,
warned of the danger of making inflated aid pledges that may not be
honoured.
"I am interested in pledges which are really spent," he said.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said his government, which has
pledged STG50 million ($A123.62 million) would not engage in a bidding
war with other countries to see which could offer the most.
The easy part is pledging money, "the much more difficult part is to
ensure that the money pledged is first paid and secondly is then spent
wisely and in a coordinated way," said Straw, who was visiting southern
Thailand disaster zones on Friday.
In Berlin, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said he would seek to
ensure, during a visit to the region later this week, that Germany's
500 million euro ($A868.43 million) aid pledge is spent effectively.
Fischer said he was concerned that aid could be sidetracked for
political reasons or because of civil conflicts in the area.
Japan has promised $US500 million ($A658.07 million) in grant direct
aid, with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi vowing at the Jakarta
conference that Tokyo would disburse it immediately.
The Australian government has pledged $A1 billion in tsunami aid grants
and interest free loans, the world's largest package.
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| Title: Re: TSUNAMI DEATH TOLL RISES ABOVE 165,000......................7/1/5 |
07 Jan 2005 01:54:19 AM |
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www.theage.com.au
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