Tsunami: Where Is the Promised Aid?

Of the 6.7 billion dollars pledged, only about 2.5 billion dollars have been ”recorded as committed or paid up.” The problem, [Jan] Egeland [U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs] says, is ”to convert pledges into cash commitments.” – IPS

Less than four months after the big wave hit, villagers in Nusa have cleared tonnes of debris and will soon start rebuilding homes and cultivating land. But in the third visit to the Indonesian village, whose reconstruction the Guardian is monitoring this year, John Aglionby also finds creeping tensions.

Not only does the work give them money but it makes them feel better, because the village looks smarter and it means they’re not just sitting around feeling depressed,” said Ichsan, a project manager from Mercy Corps.

Once the clean-up process is completed, the village will move on to stage two: construction of basic facilities and homes. “The plan is for the whole programme to last six months,” Ichsan said. By then, the 70% of the villagers who are farmers hope to be able to return to cultivating their land, both the plantations that escaped the tsunami and the inundated rice fields.

“Although the fields look clear, there are still thousands of little thorns, shards of glass and nails in the ground,” said Muhammad Yassin. “People are too afraid of getting injured to start planting.”

[Susan’s question: How in the heck do they clear the fields of these dangers?]

A different sort of fear is preventing them from tending their plantations. About three weeks ago when a farmer, who asked not to be named, went up the hill to his plot he was jumped on by a patrol of about a dozen heavily armed Indonesian soldiers hunting members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement, who have been fighting for 29 years for an independent homeland.

“I was questioned for about an hour and a half,” he said. “They repeatedly threatened to hit me and shoot me, even though I had my identity card. Their parting words were that if I told anyone about what happened they would slit my throat.” The farmer has not complained because he feels it would put him and his family at risk.

He also believes the village chief, Mafudz Din, is not interested in the problems of his villagers.

Villagers complain that he rarely engages with them. …

Of the 6.7 billion dollars pledged, only about 2.5 billion dollars have been ”recorded as committed or paid up.” The problem, Egeland says, is ”to convert pledges into cash commitments.”

The secretary-general [Annan] reinforced Egeland’s complaint when he told reporters Monday at the Oslo donor conference for Sudan: ”And that is why we are appealing to governments to give us as much liquid cash as possible.” <P.[……..]

”We are familiar with the phenomenon of countries pledging aid when the media spotlight is illuminating their actions, but then not following through when the cameras have moved on,” Stephen Greene, interim media director of Oxfam America, told IPS.

The resulting shortfall in anticipated resources can significantly hamper rebuilding efforts [such as that in Nusa, the village that The Guardian is tracking] and complicate the work of private aid groups, which are left uncertain about whether infrastructure projects normally financed by major donors will in fact be completed, he added.

”I mean the Red Cross has got a staggering amount of money. And you can’t really expect them to spend it until there’s a plan on which they can spend it, where they can say, okay, this is where I fit into this plan; this is where I belong and what I am going to do,” [Clinton] added.

”So there may be donor fatigue, but it hasn’t had a chance to express itself yet,” Clinton said.

Standing beside Clinton, Annan told reporters: ”I rely on him to make sure that donors not only pledge but disburse the money needed for recovery and reconstruction, and that it actually reaches the communities who need it most.”

Last week, the New York Times reported that recovery has been exceedingly slow in Aceh province in Indonesia …

”There is little sign in Aceh of the billions of dollars in donations from governments, aid organisations, civic groups and individual people who reached out to help from around the world,” the Times said.

Responding to the Times report, Neal Keny-Guyer, chief executive of the U.S.-based Mercy Corps [leading the effort in Nusa], said: ”We must recognise that this humanitarian response is unprecedented and requires a long-term focus.” His group alone has worked with 64 villages in the Aceh province, he added.

Oxfam’s Greene said that just as important as the amount of aid forthcoming, however, is that it be used as effectively as possible. …