22-02-2005

Thai cabinet 100-million-dollar fund to revive tourism
              

BANGKOK: Thailand's cabinet on Tuesday endorsed a 100-million-dollar plan to revive the kingdom's vital tourism industry in the wake of December's catastrophic Asian tsunamis, senior officials said.

The budget is aimed at polishing Thailand's image as Southeast Asia's leading tourist destination through a massive public relations campaign assuring potential visitors that the country is safe.

Thailand reeled in 10 million foreign tourists last year, generating some six percent of gross domestic product, with Phuket alone drawing 2.75 million tourists and two billion dollars.            

 

21-02-2005

US former presidents visit Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: Former US Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr have toured parts of southern Sri Lanka devastated by December's tsunami.

It was the latest stop in their fact-finding tour of areas hit by the disaster, which also took them to the damaged Indonesian province of Aceh.

Their trip began in Thailand, where they urged the world not to forget the victims and the reconstruction effort.

The two men were asked by the White House to lead fund-raising efforts. 

Relief match for tsunami and flood victims 

LAHORE: Pakistan eleven and rest of Pakistan eleven playing one day relief match at Gaddafi Stadium here for tsunami and Balochistan flood victims. 

Pakistan eleven comprises of Tuafiqu Umer,Salman Butt, Younus Khan, Shoaib Malik, Asim Kamal,Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Danesh Kaneria,Rao Iftkhar, Muhammad Sami and Yasir Hamid. 

Rest of the Pakistan eleven suqad comprises of Imran Farhat, Faisal Ather , Misbahul Haque, Bazyed Khan, Faisal Iqbal , Yasir Arafat, Zulqarnain, Tahir Khan, Shahid Nazir, Aamir Bashir, Abdul Rauf, Muhammad Irshad  and Muhammad Khalil. 

Younus Khan leads the Pakistan eleven whereas Misbahul Haque will be the captain of rest of Pakistan eleven.

 

31-01-2005

Indonesia's tsunami toll and missing rises to 232,945

JAKARTA: Indonesia's health ministry said on Monday the number of people dead and missing after last month's earthquake and tsunami had risen to 232,945.                                    

 27-01-2005

Strong quake recorded off Indonesia's Sumatra

HONG KONG: A strong earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale was recorded on Thursday in the seas off Indonesia's northern Sumatra island, the Hong Kong Observatory said.

The earthquake was recorded at 6:06 am (1006 GMT Wednesday) with the epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra, it said.

On December 26 a 9.0-strong quake in the same area produced tsunamis that battered coasts across the Indian Ocean, killing more than 280,000 people in 11 countries.


26-01-2005

Sri Lanka marks one month after tsunami with silence

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka observed a minute's silence on Wednesday as a sign of respect for the nearly 31,000 people here who perished in the tsunami disaster a full month ago.

State and private television stations blacked out their screens at 9:36 am (0336 GMT) while radio stations went off the air at the time the tsunamis struck the island's coastline on December 26.

Politicians and school children planted trees in memory of those who were killed while religious ceremonies were scheduled for later in the day.

                                25-01-2005

Indonesia to publish list of tsunami donors

BANDA ACEH: Indonesia hopes to dispel concerns about official corruption in relief operations by announcing each month the amount of money it receives in foreign donations and where the funds are being spent, the government said on Tuesday.

`We will announce every month, on the 26th, the money we receive,'' said Welfare Minister Alwi Shihab, who is in charge of the country's relief effort. ``We will list down all contributions and where it is going to avoid any suspicion of graft.''

Indonesia was the worst affected of 11 Indian Ocean nations that were hit by the Dec. 26 tsunami. More than 110,000 people were killed in the country and tens of thousands are still missing.

 

Presumed death toll in tsunamis passes 280,000

JAKARTA: The number of people presumed dead in last month's Asian tsunamis rose to more than 280,000 Tuesday, with Indonesian authorities announcing a further increase in the number of dead and missing.

                                                   24-01-2005

Tamil Tigers declare day of mourning for tsunami victims

COLOMBO: Tamil Tigers said they would observe a day of mourning on Wednesday to mark the one month anniversary of the tsunami tragedy that killed almost 31,000 Sri Lankans, many in the rebels' northeastern stronghold.

"Liberation Tigers declare January 26 as a national day of mourning to remember those who lost their lives in the tsunami disaster in Tamil homelands and in other regions of South Asia," the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said in statement posted on its website. 

According to latest government figures, 30,957 people died in Sri Lanka, 5,637 are still missing and 396,295 still homeless from the tsunami. 

 

Japanese aid mission arrives in Indonesia

              

BANDA ACEH: Japan's largest military deployment since World War II arrived in Indonesia on Monday to help tsunami victims.

Three Japanese navy ships carrying 950 Self-Defense Force personnel dropped anchor in Indonesian waters.

           

The new arrivals will join an advance Japanese team who began work last week on a field hospital to help survivors of the December 26 disaster that left almost 174,000 people dead in Indonesia.            

 

 

Tsunami aid may spur democratic reform in Maldives

MALE: The tourist paradise of Maldives says it suffered the biggest economic loss from the Asian tsunami tragedy and wants foreign help.

The United Nations has already issued an appeal for 66.5 million dollars in urgent relief for the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago, which was submerged briefly during the sea surge of December 26 at the cost of 82 lives with 26 missing.

"Western powers will give the money, but they are going to ask for something in return," an Asian diplomat here said. "It will be what they have been trying to push for a long time. That is democratic reform."

                                                19-01-2005

Indonesia lures FDIs for infrastructure build up in Aceh 

JAKARTA: Indonesia has decided to offer some highly attractive terms to the foreign direct investors (FDI) tempting them to undertake the huge work of building up of infrastructures in the Tsunami devastated Aceh province.

Minister for national planning, Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said that the Aceh province would prove to be a test case for Indonesia, in which, either the foreign investors’ confidence would be restored on Indonesia or else Indonesia would no longer remain an attraction for foreign investors.

Indonesia has generously offered some relief in taxes and amendments in the labour laws to foreign investors. 

Aceh was the most affected province of Indonesia by the tidal waves wreaking havocs in South Asian countries on December 26 and, according to an official estimate, $150 billion would be required for restoration of infrastructures over here. 

Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang has appealed to the foreign investors to invest in building roads, installing power plants and in projects providing potable waters. 

Foreign investments in Indonesia stood at $10 billion in 2004, which was three times less as compared to 1997.  

 

40,000 still missing in tsunami: Indonesia

JAKARTA: Some 40,000 people are still missing in Indonesia's tsunami-hit Aceh, far more than first thought, and the province will need three to five years to rebuild, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Wednesday.

 Almost all of Indonesia's 115,229 deaths from the Dec 26 earthquake and the tsunami it spawned were in Aceh. Indonesia accounts for almost two-thirds of total fatalities from the catastrophe that has resulted in the biggest humanitarian relief effort since World War Two.

 "As of now, we know that there are over 100,000 dead and 40,000 missing," Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in his opening address to an annual conference of Indonesia's donors in Jakarta.

"There are about 500,000 homeless people in the emergency camps and thousands of tsunami orphans," he said.

Artists’ relief camp for tsunami victim 

KARACHI: Karachi artists have setup a relief camp for victims of the tsunami waves in Indian Ocean countries. 

Prominent TV artists Aslam Latar, Ayub Khoso, Shagufta Ijaz and others participate in the relief camp at Sea-view beach.

Artists are taking charges of autographs and photo sessions to donate in the tsunami relief fund.

 

Somali fishing community struggles to survive after tsunami

              

HAAFUN: The impoverished fishing community on this Somalian Indian Ocean peninsula is struggling to eke out a living after last month's tsunami killed more than 300 people, mostly fishermen, and reduced villages to rubble.

Some fishermen who survived the December 26 disaster said they would rather struggle to learn another trade to earn a living rather than face the risk of possible future killer waves.

           

Local officials estimate the tsunami did some 23 million dollars in damage when it wrecked homes and other buildings, ruined what little infrastructure existed and capsized boats.

Though the death and damage tolls in Somalia are dwarfed by those in other badly hit Indian Ocean nations like Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, residents of Haafun remain skittish.             

 

Tsunami-hit countries may face tougher battle
                

KOBE: Japan's city of Kobe has been rebuilt 10 years after a killer earthquake, showing how a community can pick up the pieces after tragedy, but experts and residents say a tougher battle awaits countries hit by last month's tsunami.

 Japan has used its economic might to reconstruct Kobe after the worst earthquake in modern times in the developed world killed nearly 6,500 people. 
 

"Reconstruction in Kobe largely owed the financial strength of the country," Norio Maki of the Earthquake Disaster Mitigation research center said.

"Tsunami-hit countries are expected to clear a first phase of recovery easily thanks to support from the world, but restoration of infrastructure doesn't mean revival of their daily life," Maki said.

 Billions of dollars have been pledged to support the countries ravaged by the December 26 tsunamis that killed more than 168,000 people, but Maki warned that in the end the state of the disaster-hit countries' local economies was most important.   

                                                      18-01-2005

Tsunami wreaks havoc to Banda Aceh

BANDA ACEH: Banda, capital of Indonesia’s Aceh province was devastated by killer Tsunami waves lost over 100,000 men, women and children in the disaster. 

Tsunami waves have snatched life from the beautiful city of Banda turning it into heaps of rubble, Geo correspondent in Banda Khurram Malik reported. 

Thousands families vanished in the disaster while others lost their many members. According to an Indonesian NGO 60% of the 350000 population was perished by Tsumai. 

Dead bodies still scattered in the city and thousands being buried daily in mass graves. 

German ship brings tourists to tsunami-hit Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: A cruise ship carrying 626 German holidaymakers arrived in Sri Lanka Tuesday, the first passenger vessel to call here since the Asian tsunamis devastated much of the island's coastline.

The cruise with a crew of 334 called at Colombo port for an overnight visit. A port official said it was going ahead with the visit even though several other cruise liners have avoided the city.

"The cruise ship had been to the Maldives and will leave Colombo tomorrow and head to Myanmar," port spokesman said.

Both the Maldives and Myanmar were also hit by the tsunamis. 

 

UN not renew travel ban in tsunami-hit Aceh

 

BANDA ACEH: A United Nations security consultant said on Tuesday there was no longer a heightened state of alert for the group's staff in Indonesia's tsunami-stricken Aceh province.

``We have no heightened alert,'' said UN security consultant.

He said a 24-hour ban on UN staff driving between provincial capital Banda Aceh and Medan, the largest city on Sumatra island, expired early on Tuesday morning and was not extended.

UN staff made the decisions after talks with Indonesian police, he added.

 

New Zealand announces largest international aid package for tsunami

              

WELLINGTON:  New Zealand announced Tuesday its largest ever-international aid package of 68 million New Zealand (47 million US) dollars for tsunami-stricken Asian countries.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said 52 million dollars would be spent this financial year and the United Nations would immediately receive 20 million dollars.

The package includes 10 million dollars already allocated.

Clark said the total package set a new level for New Zealand aid.

"This contribution reflects both the magnitude of the disaster and its impact on a number of nations in our region with which we have important bilateral relationships," she said.

Clark said she did not consider New Zealand had been slow to react to the disaster three weeks ago that has killed more than 168,000 people. 

 

Annan urges spending to limit deaths in disasters

 

KOBE: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the world on Tuesday to learn from the killer Asian tsunami, saying spending now could limit the loss of life and

damage from inevitable natural disasters.

 

Investing smaller sums before disasters could reduce the toll such catastrophes take in lives and in money, Annan said at the start of a 5-day conference in the city of Kobe in western Japan.

 

More than 175,000 people were killed and millions left homeless by the Dec. 26 tsunami and pledges of emergency relief stand at more than $7 billion. 

 

US steps up aid missions in Indonesia 

 

BANDA ACEH: US aid helicopters stepped up missions on Tuesday to Indonesia's tsunami-hit Aceh province, expanding help to millions affected by the giant wave that killed 175,000 around the Indian Ocean.

 

Sri Lankan officials said another 7,275 people were now known to have died in the Dec. 26 catastrophe, taking the national total to 38,195. The jump was not due to the sudden discovery of more bodies, but rather a backlog of figures from remote areas. 

                                 17-01-2005

Japan's military team arrives in Aceh
                

BANDA ACEH: An advance party was on Monday laying the ground work in Banda Aceh for the arrival of 1,000 Japanese troops to help Indonesian tsunami relief efforts in what will be Japan's biggest military deployment since World War II.

 

Self-Defense Forces spokesman Hiroji Yamashita said on Monday three warships would ferry the troops in from January 25, with much of the focus on providing medical aid and logistical support to the international humanitarian operation.

 

“It is the single biggest deployment since World War II," Yamashita said.

 

He said the advance group, which arrived on Sunday, consisted of a 20-member medical team who would assess the medical needs of survivors in Aceh, where almost 115,000 were killed in the December 26 disaster.

Tsunami toll reaches to 175,000 

GALLE: Sri Lanka's tsunami death toll shot up on Monday as officials said the more they cleared up, the more bodies they found. 

The island added another 7,275 victims to its list of the dead, taking the national toll over 38,000 and the overall toll around Indian Ocean nations to 175,458. 

"We are coming across dead bodies on a daily basis as we clear the rubble," said a senior public security ministry official. 

Hardest-hit Indonesia has steadily raised its total, but Sri Lanka's body count had stabilized around 30,000 until on Monday.

ASEAN troops in tsunami-hit Aceh

                      

KUALA LUMPUR: ASEAN troops carrying out relief work in Indonesia's tsunami-battered Aceh province will be allowed to remain indefinitely, Malaysian Defence Minister Najib Razak said Monday.

 

"The representative of Indonesia's military chief General Sutarto told that there is no deadline as such given to our soldiers with respect to our involvement in Aceh and that they can continue to be there until further notice," Najib told a news conference.

 

 "The 26 March deadline is only for their own planning purposes, but the important thing is that there is no such imposition as to a specific timetable for our withdrawal from Aceh," Najib said, adding this would also apply to troops from other ASEAN countries.

UN agency to set up tsunami aid base in Calang

JAKARTA: The World Food Program said it plans to set up a second base in the previously inaccessible Indonesian town of Calang to provide easier access to the 800,000 people who need food in the area devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunami.

The United Nations agency has been running its aid operations from Meulaboh in Aceh province, the area most severely affected by the tsunami. The agency yesterday completed distributing 30 tons of rice, noodles and high-energy biscuits in Calang, a town between the provincial capital Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, two of the hardest-hit cities in Asia, said Michael Huggins, a spokesman for the agency in Jakarta. 

                                16-01-2005

MKRF-UN Walkathon collects funds for tsunami victims

ISLAMABAD: A large number of people from different sections of society and age groups turned up at a Walkathon organized by Mir Khalilur Rehman Foundation (MKRF) with the cooperation of the United Nations to raise funds for the relief and rehabilitation of tsunami victims.

The organizers of the two events received warm and an overwhelming response from citizens of Rawalpindi and Islamabad who made generous donations to the relief fund for tsunami victims.

The diplomats and foreigners residing in Islamabad showed equal enthusiasm. The residents of Islamabad on every holiday witness a walk for a certain cause but it was a unique event on Sunday.

The Walkathon from China Chowk to Jinnah Avenue was divided into ten zones and the participants paid their donations through tokens. To make people feel a part and parcel of the fund relief campaign, each and every participant had to pass through these zones.

To cross a zone, each participant had to pay Rs 5 or Rs 10 for a token and if he wanted to walk up to the next zone, he had to pay for another token as well. In this way donations were considerably raised.

The Islamabad Administration played their role in making the walk a smooth affair. A heavy contingent of police, which also included female staff, was deputed to ensure security to the participants and organizers.

Swedish PM arrives in tsunami-hit Thailand

 

BANGKOK: Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson arrived in Thailand Sunday, where he will join his counterparts from Finland and Norway to discuss post-tsunami recovery and check on efforts to identify the missing, a foreign news agency reported.

 

Persson arrived a few hours ahead of prime ministers Kjell Magne Bondevik of Norway and Matti Vanhanen of Finland.

 

The three were due to meet Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and have an audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej later Sunday.

 

Thaksin told reporters at an event marking Thailand's Teacher's Day that the visiting Scandinavian leaders were coming out of concern for their nationals missing since the tsunami.

 

‘We don't plan to ask for any assistance from them. They're coming here to ask for our assistance in sending their people back home. Many Swedish people are missing’, he added.

 

Fifty-two Swedes died in the tsunami disaster across Asia, many of them in

Thailand. Sweden, with its nine million inhabitants, was the country outside of Asia to suffer the largest per capita death toll.

 

Another 893 Swedes remain missing or unaccounted for from the December 26 tsunamis in the Indian Ocean. 

MKR and UNO rally round for a walkathon today in Islamabad 

ISLAMABAD: Mir Khalilur Rahman Foundation (MKR) and the United Nations Organization (UNO) have got together to arrange a walkathon here for raising funds for the help and relief of Tsunami victims. 

The walkathon commencing at 12 in the day will continue up to 3 pm in the afternoon here on Jinnah Avenue.

Celebrities from different segments of society and a large number of citizens will be participating in this walkathon. 

No March 26 deadline for foreign troops to pullout, says Indonesia

 

JAKARTA: Indonesia's defense minister said Sunday there is no three-month deadline for foreign troops involved in the massive tsunami relief operation to be out of the country and said Jakarta would like to improve military relations with Washington, a foreign news agency reported.

              

`We would like to emphasize that March 26 is not a deadline for involvement of foreign military personnel in the relief effort,' Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said after a meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz.

              

`It is a benchmark for the Indonesian government to improve and accelerate its relief efforts so that by March 26 the large part of the burden of the relief effort will be carried by the Indonesian government and Indonesian authorities,' he added.

 

Canadian PM arrives in Thailand to see tsunami damage

 

PHUKET, Thailand: Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin arrived on this tsunami-stricken Thai tourist island early Sunday and met with local officials and Canadian volunteers to discuss reconstruction efforts, a foreign news agency reported.

 

Martin met with Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula and with a group of about 20 Canadian volunteers who have worked in international rescue and forensics operations since the tsunami.

 

Martin then headed to Kamala beach and to a nearby Buddhist temple that suffered heavy damage when the killer waves smashed ashore, killing 5,300 people in Thailand, roughly half of them believed to be foreign holidaymakers.

 

Martin was expected to stay about nine hours in Thailand, which was hosting three foreign leaders Sunday, with the prime ministers of Finland, Norway and Sweden expected to arrive in Bangkok later in the day.

 

Canada says 34 of its citizens are still missing after the December 26 Indian Ocean tsunami, while six have been killed or are presumed dead. Ottawa has offered 348.5 million US dollars in aid over five years to tsunami-battered countries. 

 

                                15-01-2005

Tsunami Driveathon in Islamabad today

LAHORE: A Driveathon being organised by the Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman Foundation (MKRF) at Rawalpindi-Islamabad today to collect funds for tsunami victims.

The Driveathon will pass various roads and avenues of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Several showbiz artistes and prominent persons will be accompanied with the Driveathon.

The Float will begin its journey from 10:00 in morning and travel several roads and localities in twin cities till 9:00 in night to collect cash donations and goods for the victims of tsunami waves. 

Driveathon for Tsunami victims in Lahore

LAHORE: A Driveathon organised by the Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman Foundation (MKRF) collected funds for tsunami-hit countries here.

The Driveathon started from Davis Road Lahore passing China Chowk, Shadman Market and main market Gulbarg arrived at the Liberty Market. The Float was decorated with the banners of MKRF urging the people to donate more and more for the noble cause. The show created a festive scene on the city road.

The public response was very good and a large number of people gave cash donations besides giving different goods like food items, medicines and cloths to the MKRF for the tsunami victims.

A good number of film, stage and TV artistes participated in the MKRF. They remain engaged in fundraising and collecting donations from noon to night and also participated in a show at Liberty Market.

The next Driveathon to help Tsunami victims by the Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman Foundation  will be held in Islamabad. 

UN provides tents for Indonesian tsunami refugees

 

BANDA ACEH: The United Nations said on Saturday it would provide emergency tents to house 100,000 tsunami survivors in Indonesia's Aceh province for six months while their homes are rebuilt.

 

"Our initial assessment is that we are bringing in shelter material for 100,000 refugees," said Mans Nyberg, a spokesman for the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees in Banda Aceh, the devastated provincial capital.

 

Nyberg said the the UN would begin airlifting tents by helicopter from Banda Aceh and the main Sumatra island city of Medan to badly-affected areas on Aceh's west coast.

US to spend $ 37 million on tsunami warning system 

WASHINGTON: The United States will spend 37 million dollars to beef up its tsunami warning system, President George W. Bush 's science advisor announced.  

The system will cover nearly all US coastlines and allow officials to respond within minutes, Bush science advisor John Marburger said in a statement.  

The new system will become part of the existing Global Earth Observation System, to cover the entire Pacific and Caribbean basins and provide a warning system for half of the world's oceans.  

"This plan will enable enhanced monitoring, detection, warning and communications that will protect lives and property in the US and a significant part of the world," Marburger said in statement. The Bush administration plans to spend 37.5 million dollars over the next two years.  

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will deploy 32 buoys, called Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami. 

UN warns Sri Lanka rebels over tsunami children

 

BANDA ACEH: The United Nations said it had received reports Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers were recruiting children displaced by Asia's tsunami and had told

the rebels to leave under-age survivors alone.

 

Indonesia found almost 4,000 more bodies, taking the global death toll from the disaster to more than 162,000 with searches completed in areas most damaged by the Dec. 26 tsunami.

 

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said three children were reported to have been recruited in Sri Lanka's east, where the Tamil Tiger rebels control large pockets of jungle.

 

"Recruitment  was an issue before the tsunami. It's an issue that continues to be of concern," UNICEF's Sri Lankan representative Ted Chaiban told foreign news agency in an interview.

 

"We know of three cases of reported under-age recruitment that took place in the east," said Chaiban.

 

"We said to the rebels you send out instructions that no child that has been displaced by the tsunami should in any way be affected or harassed by any person."

 

Two of the children had been reunited with their family but a 15-year-old girl was still missing from a camp for the homeless, said Chaiban.

 

The rebels deny recruiting children, saying many youngsters lie about their age to join the group.

                              14-01-2005

Malaria threat surfaces in tsunami zone

BANDA ACEH: Health officials plan to go door to door and tent to tent with mosquito-killing spray guns beginning on Friday to head off a looming threat of malaria that one expert says could kill 100,000 more people around the tsunami disaster zone.

While the threat of cholera and dysentery outbreaks is diminishing by the day because clean water is increasingly getting to tsunami survivors, the danger of malaria and dengue fever epidemics is increasing, said Richard Allan, director of the Mentor Initiative, a public health group that fights malaria epidemics. 

Over 25,000 leave tsunami relief centers in Sri Lanka: UN

 

COLOMBO: More than 25,000 Sri Lankans displaced by last month's tsunami have left relief camps in the past 24 hours, the United Nations' refugee agency said on Friday, adding the country needs tens of thousands of more tents.

 

The Dec. 26 tsunami killed about 31,000 people in Sri Lanka and made another 800,000 homeless. Although many of the displaced have nothing left, hundreds of thousands have returned to their villages to rebuild, aid agencies say.               

 

UN urges Indonesia to drop troop deadline
 

BANDA ACEH: The United Nations urged Indonesia not to impose a deadline on foreign troops providing relief assistance in tsunami-hit Aceh province. 

 

"I am sure the Indonesian government will agree with me that the most important thing is to save lives and not have deadlines," said Jan Egeland, UN undersecretary for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordination.

Egeland was responding to Indonesian Vice President Yusuf Kalla's statement earlier this week that he wanted all foreign military to leave Indonesia by the end of March or "the sooner the better".

Egeland said that while the March deadline was unlikely to pose major problems because by then roads would be cleared, he was concerned about foreign aid workers in Aceh. 

 

Tsunami damage to fishing industries worse than expected: UN

              

ROME: The devastating impact of the Asian tsunami disaster on fishing and aquaculture in the Indian Ocean is worse and more complex than expected, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Friday.

"The situation is extremely serious, particularly in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, the countries where we have the best information coming through," said Jeremy Turner, head of the agency's Fishery Technology Service.

                              13-01-2005

Asian tsunami death toll rises over 163,000
  
JAKARTA: The death toll from the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Indian Ocean nations passed 163,338 Thursday with the release of updated figures from the Indonesia social affairs ministry.

Geo TV viewers urge all possible help to Tsunami victims

 
KARACHI: Geo viewers continued pouring in e-mails on [geonews@geo.tv] expressing their views as to how best of the roles we can play in the ongoing relief and rehabilitation works of the people rendered homeless and destitute by Tsunami disaster?

Dr. Bakht Jamal from Dubai writes, “On seeing Tsunami disaster, we all have tearful eyes. It is our duty to join hands and provide as much as possible financial help collectively to our Muslim brethren.

Liaquat Ali from Jhang Saddar writes, “The colossal loss of human lives by Tsunami was a great tragedy. Pakistan did its best to help Tsunami victims, which is quite praiseworthy. Although this huge loss from the incident could not be made up, still we should continue trying to help our hapless brothers.”

Malik Sajid from Rahimyar Khan told that lacs of children have been orphaned and left heirless as they lost their parents. We might not be able to give them back their comforts, they enjoyed with their parents, but “We are all duty bounden to help these children for meeting the financial requirements of their rehabilitation.”

Shagufta Mehar from Jaranawala writes, “We shouldn’t at all forget these Tsunami-struck homeless and helpless children on the eve of Eid because they need our help and assistance today.”

 

Annan calls for global tsunami warning system

                      

PORT LOUIS: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called on Thursday for "decisive measures" to address climate change and said a global early warning system must be set up in the wake of last month's Asian tsunami disaster.

 

"It is no longer so hard to imagine what might happen from the rising sea levels that the world's top scientists are telling us will accompany global warming," Annan told leaders at a UN conference on small islands here.

 

The conference that opened on Monday is looking at ways to help the world's most vulnerable states cope with hazards and disasters such as the December 26 tsunami that devastated 12 countries, including the Maldives, a cluster of 1,192 low-lying islands scattered across the Indian Ocean.
 

Seychelles urge tsunami relief fund

              

PORT LOUIS: The Indian Ocean island-nation of the Seychelles on Thursday urged the creation of special fund for countries hit by the Asian tsunami disaster and echoed urgent calls for a regional early warning system.

 

The tsunami, which battered 12 nations leaving close to 160,000 dead, caused more than 30 million dollars in damage to the Seychelles where two people were killed, President James Michel told a UN conference on small islands.

 

"This unprecedented calamity in our region has taught us, in the most compelling terms, that there is an urgent need for an early warning system in the Indian Ocean region, similar to that which exists in the Pacific," he said. 

 

Sri Lanka seeks over 100,000 tents for tsunami victims

              

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Thursday urged global donors urgently to provide more than 100,000 tents for around 73,000 families made homeless by the tsunami disaster.

 

Most of the displaced people are staying in camps set up in thousands of schools across the island after the December 26 tsunamis destroyed three-quarters of Sri Lanka's coastline, killing 30,800 people.

 

The task forces working on reconstruction said they urgently need tents because schools across the country opened on Monday for the new academic year.

             

Donors such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and other organisations are in talks with the task forces to work out a reconstruction package.  

 Sri Lanka investigates alleged sale of orphans

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka Sri Lankan authorities are investigating whether a man tried to sell two children orphaned by the tsunami. 

They arrested a 60-year-old man after being tipped off about the alleged sale of the children, ages 12 and 13. It's not yet clear what happened to the children.The suspect has been released on bail. 

Scores of children lost their parents to the killer waves December 26th. About 31-thousand people died in Sri Lanka. 

The United Nations and international aid groups are concerned child traffickers could take advantage of the disaster and try to sell orphans into forced labor or the sex trade.

 

Death toll in Asian quake disaster approaches 160,000

                     

JAKARTA: The death toll from the earthquake and tsunamis that devastated Indian Ocean coastlines last month approached 160,000 on Thursday as India and Sri Lanka reported new deaths.

 

Indonesia was hardest-hit by the December 26 quake and tsunamis, with 106,523 confirmed deaths and 12,047 people missing, the social affairs ministry said.

 

 In Sri Lanka government figures issued on Thursday showed the toll had risen by 11 to 30,893 while the number of those reported missing had come down by 50 to 6,038.

 

In neighbouring India, more than 300 more people were confirmed dead on the Andaman islands, pushing the official death toll to 10,672 with 5,711 still missing and feared dead.

 

The death toll in Thailand stood at 5,313, but the number of missing continued to slip, down by 91 names Thursday to 3,254, including 1,063 foreigners.

 

Myanmar's Prime Minister Soe Win has said 59 people were killed in the tsunamis and more than 3,200 left homeless. This was down from the UN's estimated 90.

 

At least 82 people were killed and another 26 were missing in the Maldives, a government spokesman said.

 

Sixty-eight people were dead in Malaysia, most of them in Penang, according to police, while Bangladesh reported two deaths.

 

Fatalities also occurred on the east coast of Africa where 298 people were declared dead in Somalia, 10 in Tanzania and one in Kenya.

                          12-01-2005

Walk held for Tsunami victims in Faisalabad