Home>News Center>World
         
 

UN: tsunami rebuilding slow; scandals possible
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-13 09:15

Rebuilding tsunami-ravaged Asia is extremely slow, the United Nations warned as global business leaders met for the first time since the December 26 tragedy to devise swift reconstruction plans with governments.

The one-day "private sector summit on post-tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction" in Washington was also warned about the prospect of corruption derailing resettlement of thousands of people made homeless by the disaster.

"The reconstruction effort is still too slow," lamented Jan Egeland, the UN emergency relief coordinator.

"I am concerned with people in the displacement camps that it (reconstruction) is going slower than they had expected to get back to their homes, their livelihood," he told reporters at the conference.

Egeland, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, also urged governments to be transparent in awarding multi-million-dollar reconstruction projects to avoid corruption scandals as were evident in post-war Iraq.

Although "the realities" of the tsunami disaster and the Iraq war were different, both cases involved massive rebuilding and large contracts.

"We have to make sure that it is transparent and accountable as can be," he said.

"What we cannot afford is any kind of scandals (and) money going into the wrong direction or into the wrong pockets because we had such unprecedented generosity and such unprecedented needs," he added.

Former US President George H. W. Bush, who together with his successor Bill Clinton helped spearhead efforts to drum up financial support for the tsunami rebuilding efforts, said "all contributions must get to their ultimate destination with no corruption of any kind in between."

"And any gifts tainted with corruption, or ripping off, I can assure you it is going to do irreparable harm, irreparable damage to America's ability to respond to future crises," Bush said, amid applause from participants.

Some corporate donors have been reluctant to release funds to tsunami-hit economies because of a lack of firm action plans with guarantees of transparency, officials told the conference.

Ministers from Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Maldives assured the 300 business leaders attending the conference that all reconstruction projects would be undertaken in a transparent manner to avoid any suspicion of graft.

More than 200,000 people were killed, almost all in Asia, after an earthquake off Indonesia's northwest coast triggered massive tidal waves that wreaked destruction in 11 Indian Ocean countries.

Banda Aceh alone had almost 129,000 confirmed deaths.

Egeland said although national governments were taking the lead in the rebuilding process, they should form "effective partnerships" with local authorities, international financial institutions and non-governmental organizations to speed up recovery.

US companies have pledged 530 million dollars in tsunami relief aid, making up the bulk of the global private-sector contribution of up to two billion dollars.

The US government had also pledged nearly a billion dollars, also making up a key component of the estimated six billion dollars pledged by public sources across the globe.

Egeland said except for Sri Lanka, all the tsunami-hit economies had devised master plans for reconstruction, in which the international community could participate. Sri Lanka was expected to complete its plan later this month.

Clinton described the current period as the "roughest" since the disaster struck due to problems hampering financial aid flows to the ground.

He said he would return to the tsunami-hit region soon to help remove some of the "roadblocks" hampering speedy recovery.

Clinton cautioned that the monsoon period was approaching in Asia and efforts had to be stepped up to resettle the thousands of homeless people currently living in tents.

Some 1.7 million people were made homeless by the tsunami.



USS Park Royal crew await for Rice
Coffin of Milosevic flew to Belgrade
Kidnapping spree in Gaza Strip
 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Australia, US, Japan praise China for Asia engagement

 

   
 

Banker: China doing its best on flexible yuan

 

   
 

Hopes high for oil pipeline deal

 

   
 

Possibilities of bird flu outbreaks reduced

 

   
 

Milosevic buried after emotional farewell

 

   
 

China considers trade contracts in India

 

   
  Journalist's alleged killers held in Iraq
   
  No poisons found in Milosevic's body
   
  US, Britain, France upbeat on Iran agreement
   
  Fatah officials call for Abbas to resign
   
  Sectarian violence increases in Iraq
   
  US support for troops in Iraq hits new low
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Earthquake was the only tsunami warning for many Indonesians
   
India cancels tsunami warning after major quake
   
Hu sends condolences to Indonesia's quake victims
   
Dec 26 quake measured 9.3, twice as powerful as thought
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产在线视频一区二区三区| 日本wwwxxxxx| 免费一级做a爰片性色毛片| 贵州美女一级纯黄大片| 国产精品一区91| 97久久精品午夜一区二区| 小泽玛利亚番号| 丰满人妻一区二区三区免费视频 | 中文字幕一区二区三区在线播放| 最新中文字幕在线视频| 亚洲日本在线播放| 热re99久久国产精品| 冬月枫在线观看| 色国产精品一区在线观看| 国产在线观看精品一区二区三区91| 被吃奶跟添下面视频| 国产美女a做受大片观看| 99精品在线视频观看| 小莹的性荡生活37章| 中文国产日韩欧美视频| 日日噜噜夜夜狠狠va视频| 久久精品无码一区二区www| 欧美亚洲国产成人不卡| 亚洲欧美成人中文日韩电影| 澳门皇冠8x8华人永久免费| 免费一区区三区四区| 精品人妻无码区二区三区| 啊灬啊灬啊快日出水了| 色窝窝亚洲av网| 国产乱人视频在线播放不卡| 香港黄页精品视频在线| 国产成人无码一区二区三区在线| 竹菊影视国产精品| 国产精品青草久久| 91网站在线看| 国模吧双双大尺度炮交gogo| 99在线观看精品视频| 大荫蒂女人毛茸茸图片| bt天堂网www天堂在线观看| 女人18毛片a级毛片免费| www.爱情岛论坛|