Progress On Indonesian Tsunami Reconstruction
Reconstruction in ravaged areas of the Indonesian coastline is on track nearly three years after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 on December 26, a key group of international donors said Tuesday.
The Multi Donor Fund (MDF) of foreign nations and international financial institutions paid out 270 million US dollar between May 2005 and September this year, a progress report said.
Fund representatives lauded the completion of several thousand kilometers of road, 282 schools, 43 health posts and a host of other projects under the MDF to improve living standards.
World Bank Country Director Joachim von Amsberg said the Bank – which is part of the MDF – had put in place effective measures to prevent the siphoning off of reconstruction funds, a key risk in notoriously corrupt Indonesia.
The MDF said it had allocated 492 million out of its 673 million dollar reconstruction budget to 17 projects as of the end of September.
According to the report, the 17 projects had helped Aceh people build 4.434 new homes out of a target of 8.000, and repair 5.129 homes out of a target of 7.000, as of the end of September.
Along the way, the MDF had also created 123.659 out of the targeted 300.000 short-term jobs in road reconstruction. MDF Manager Christian Rey said the steering committee had approved a proposal to extend the MDFs role up to 2012 from 2010 as originally envisaged.
Meanwhile, Southern African and Indian Ocean nations prone to floods and cyclones agreed to cooperate and establish disaster teams to combat future calamities, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Tuesday.
The countries include the Comoros, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
