Asia Quake’s Tsunamis Kill Over 11,000

JOHN Howard was hailed by world leaders yesterday for spearheading the international push to rebuild the dozen nations shattered by the Boxing Day tsunamis that left 150,000 people dead and razed countless coastal towns.

Rescue ... an injured boy is taken to treatment in Aceh / AP

As the World Health Organisation warned disease could kill a further 300,000 people in the hardest-hit areas, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan launched an urgent appeal for $US977 million in cash for emergency relief over the next six months.

The Jakarta gathering endorsed the UN's role as the leader of the international relief effort.

Mr Annan said the UN would appoint a special co-ordinator to help manage the flow of humanitarian aid.

The Prime Minister received an ovation from the summit when he outlined Australia's $1billion plan for a joint reconstruction and development commission with Indonesia, a contribution that put Australia at the top of the list of international donors.

"No natural disaster in my lifetime has moved and touched the people of my country as much as the disaster that has brought all of us together," Mr Howard said.

He said the Australian contribution was a token of the compassion and concern of the Australian people.

"There's an old saying in the English language, isn't there, that charity belongs at home. Our home is this region," he said later in a television interview. "And we are saying to the people of our nearest neighbour that we are here to help you in your hour of need."

Unlike other donor countries, Australia's $1billion package for Indonesia will be jointly administered by the two countries without UN involvement.

"The only way that we can deliver this aid effectively is (bilaterally) and we are not going to deliver it through an international agency,"' Mr Howard said.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed the UN's lead co-ordination role, announcing that the "core group" of nations including Australia, the US, Japan and India set up in the wake of the disaster would be disbanded.

Singapore's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, also backed a lead co-ordination role for the UN, saying that despite its limitations the UN was the global organisation best placed to see that the political will for longer-term reconstruction was maintained.

"Millions in Asia, Africa, and even in far away countries, are suffering unimaginable trauma and psychological wounds that will take a long time to heal," Mr Annan said in his opening statement to the tsunami meeting.

"It seems at times like a nightmare from which we are still hoping to awaken -- except that for millions of people in 12 affected countries and for tens of thousands of visitors from 40 nations around the world, this nightmare is devastatingly real."

Heads of government and key multilateral organisations including the UN, World Bank and Asian Development Bank gathered in Jakarta's huge convention centre yesterday, vowing to provide both emergency aid and long-term reconstruction funds.

They also resolved to take immediate action to establish a tsunami warning centre for the Indian Ocean area, while Association of South East Asian Nations leaders will push ahead with a new security mechanism aimed at deploying military as well as civilian assets to help regional disaster relief.

The unique gathering of leaders from 26 nations and international organisations, chaired by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, took place amid extremely tight security with thousands of troops guarding the conference venue.

"It means that you care and you care deeply," Mr Yudhoyono said when welcoming the delegates, which included Mr Powell, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Mr Howard, who late on Wednesday announced the largest individual donation of any country to tsunami relief in Indonesia, sat at one end of a long rectangular table close to the Indonesian leader.

With Mr Annan beside him, Mr Yudhoyono said media coverage of the disaster had only provided a "small sampling" of the painful realities of what he called the most destructive natural disaster in living memory.

"When the crisis has passed, let us not go back to business as usual, only to become a solid community again when another disaster strikes," he said.

Mr Annan urged donor countries to convert pledges quickly into cash. He said the UN would need $US229million for food and agriculture over the next six months as well as $US222million for shelter and other non-food items.

"We do know that at least half a million people were injured; that more than a million people are displaced; that nearly two million people need food aid; and that many more need water, sanitation and healthcare," the UN chief said.

Countries such as Japan will press ahead with debt relief, offering a moratorium on repayments of the $US22billion it owes.

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Good to see my taxes are being put to good use, I think by avoiding the UN, we should be able to save about $100 million on "overheads" and other "beaurocratic nonsense".