2005-1-7
I'm Steve Ember with In the News in VOA Special English.
Kofi Annan says helping survivors
of the earthquake and killer waves in the Indian Ocean last week is
a race against time. The United Nations secretary-general says
countries that have offered aid must hurry and provide it. The
offers add up to around four thousand million dollars. United
Nations officials say one-fourth of that is needed during the next
six months.
The concern about offers of international aid is based on
history. For example, the earthquake in Bam, Iran, in December of
two thousand three killed more than twenty-six thousand people.
Countries and groups offered hundreds of millions of dollars worth
of assistance. The United Nations says it has confirmed only about
seventeen million dollars in aid received so far. Governments and
organizations that offered help dispute that, however.
On Thursday Mister Annan met with world leaders in Jakarta,
Indonesia to discuss aid for victims of the tsunami. The leaders
discussed and welcomed the idea of suspending some debt owed by
affected nations. But the leaders did not say they would do so. Some
said that making direct payments to survivors would be more helpful.
The top U.N. aid official, Jan Egeland, has said the number of
dead will be "much bigger" than one hundred fifty thousand. The
World Health Organization says about a half-million people are
injured. Millions more are homeless. The W.H.O. has called for clean
water along with food and medicines needed to help prevent the
spread of disease.
Australia has offered eight hundred ten million dollars in aid.
The European Union says it will provide four hundred sixty-six
million dollars in aid. Germany, Japan and the United States follow
in their amounts offered. American military forces are also
providing services.
Representatives of twenty-six countries and international
organizations attended the meeting in Jakarta. Officials say they
will cooperate to develop a tsunami warning system for the Indian
Ocean and the South China Sea.
A small group of countries including the United States began to
direct aid efforts after the events of December twenty-sixth. Now
American officials say the group is being suspended so the United
Nations can start to take control. The earthquake measured nine on
the Richter scale. The quake and resulting waves proved most deadly
on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. More than one hundred thousand
people are reported dead there.
On Friday, American Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed
shock at the destruction caused by the earthquake and waves. The
same day, Kofi Annan flew by helicopter over western Sumatra and
visited Meulaboh. About four thousand bodies were discovered in that
town Friday. Mister Annan said he had never seen such destruction as
he saw on Sumatra. In his words, "Where are the people?"
In the News, in VOA Special English, was written by Jerilyn
Watson. I'm Steve Ember.