Tsunamis create 2 million new poor<\/p>\n
Cecil Morella, Agence France-Presse\/Manila<\/p>\n
Two million more Asians have joined the ranks of the poor
\nfollowing the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster even though the
\noverall impact on the economies of the affected countries looks
\nsmall, the Asian Development Bank said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The bank warned that it could take the affected populations
\nmany years to recover from poverty. It urged governments to
\nensure tsunami relief funds are not frittered away through
\ncorruption.<\/p>\n
A great earthquake measuring 9.3 on the Richter scale ripped
\nup the ocean floor near the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Dec.
\n26, triggering giant waves that swamped 11 countries.<\/p>\n
The waves and the temblor wiped out coastal communities,
\nkilling more than 273,000 people.<\/p>\n
"Despite the huge scale of loss of human life, homelessness
\nand displaced populations, the macroeconomic impact of the
\ndisaster appears limited," the Manila-based ADB said in its
\nannual Asian Development Outlook report.<\/p>\n
"Nonetheless, the economic impact will be felt severely at the
\nlocal and community levels, dragging a significant number of
\nalready poor people into deeper poverty."<\/p>\n
Damage to the agriculture and fisheries sector in Indonesia's
\nAceh and North Sumatra provinces had increased the number of poor
\nby more than a million, raising the national head count ratio for
\nthe poor by half a percentage point to 18.7 percent.<\/p>\n
The devastation of Sri Lanka's fishing communities and small-
\nscale traders led to significant job losses, boosting the ranks
\nof the poor by 287,000 people and the national poverty level by
\n1.4 percentage points to 26.6 percent.<\/p>\n
While casualties in the Maldives were low, a third of the
\npopulation of 300,000 and the tourism and fisheries
\ninfrastructure were particularly affected.<\/p>\n
The bank says the poverty level has jumped by 12 percentage
\npoints to 35 percent.<\/p>\n
India's 261.26 million-strong poor received some 644,000 new
\nadditions after the tsunamis, while damage in Thailand's tourism-
\ndependent south pushed 24,000 people into poverty.<\/p>\n
The bank warned that many of those who were already poor
\nbefore the giant waves struck "have sunk deeper into poverty
\nbecause essential goods as well as basic services, such as
\nsanitation and health, are in shorter supply.<\/p>\n
"It will now take an even greater effort to take these people
\nabove the poverty line," it added.<\/p>\n
The five worst-affected countries were fortunate that their
\nkey economic and densely populated urban centers and industrial
\nhubs were spared, it said.<\/p>\n
However, the loss of housing, jobs and other assets of the
\npoor "paralyzes their daily activities".<\/p>\n
While international aid flows would help rebuild houses and
\nother facilities, "the restoration of eroded and salinized fields
\nmay take several years" and "worse, it can take years for
\ncommunities to replace the skills lost."<\/p>\n
It cited a study by the U.S. financial service outfit Citibank
\nthat expects Thailand to recover the fastest.<\/p>\n
"India, Maldives, and Sri Lanka could take longer to recover,
\nand Indonesia even longer."<\/p>\n
It said the Citibank scenario estimates that if the recovery
\nis speedy, "the additional poverty due to the tsunami would be
\neliminated by 2007 in all of the countries except Indonesia,
\nwhere the additional number of the poor would still be around
\n345,000."<\/p>\n
However, if the recovery process is delayed, the additional
\nnumber of poor in the five countries would still be 1.1 million
\nby 2007.<\/p>\n
"Effective and quick responses are crucial to minimize the
\npoverty impact of a natural disaster of this magnitude," the ADB
\nsaid, adding that these programs would also provide jobs for the
\ndisplaced in the short term.<\/p>\n
"Efforts to establish independent authorities to ensure
\ntransparent use of recovery funds can speed recovery," it said,
\nciting Indonesia's Specific Authority Board for Aceh
\nReconstruction.<\/p>\n
Governments must work fast because "the longer the recovery
\nprocess, the worse will be the effect on the poor."<\/p>",
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