UN chief ends Asian tsunami tour

UN chief ends Asian tsunami tour

Amal Jayasinghe, Agence France-Presse/Male

United Nations chief Kofi Annan wrapped up his tour of tsunami- battered countries on Monday urging the international community to look beyond casualty figures and stump up with a billion dollars immediately to help survivors.

As he left the Maldives after a 24-hour visit, the UN secretary general told reporters that although death and destruction in this tiny Indian Ocean atoll nation was not as bad as in other Asian countries, it had paid a high social price.

Annan had already viewed the destruction in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, where a bulk of the more than 156,000 tsunami-related deaths occurred, but said the tragedy could not be defined purely in terms of death tolls.

"One cannot look at it in terms of numbers alone," Annan said when asked for his assessment at the end of his tour.

"The destruction and death in other countries is worse, but extensive damage has been caused in the Maldives where one third of the population has been affected."

According to latest figures, 82 people were killed in the Maldives by the giant waves that crashed ashore on Dec. 26, with 26 people still missing.

He said the Maldivian social system had been destabilized after the sea surge that affected almost all of the 1,192 coral island. Some two dozen tourist resorts out of 87 were also washed out.

Annan is hoping to raise a billion dollars at a pledging conference the United Nations is calling in Geneva on Tuesday. He said a part of that money will go to the Maldives, but could not say how much.

However, the UN office here said they were looking at US$66.5 million for immediate relief work. The Maldives has estimated its losses at $1.3 billion.

Annan said that along with the outpouring of sympathy for the victims, the world should now help the survivors.

"Now we must look to the future. See what we can do for the survivors," Annan said, adding that the welfare of children was a top priority for the UN and its programs to help countries in their recovery efforts.

He said he was also pushing to ensure that the affected nations did not merely rebuild what had been lost, but improve on infrastructure.

"We must take advantage of this not only to rebuild but to improve the infrastructure," he said.

The region's focus, he said, would shift to establishing early warning systems to prevent another catastrophe and noted that a UN-led conference on the rise of sea levels scheduled for Wednesday in Mauritius will address the issue extensively.

Earlier in the day, Annan was flown in a sea plane to the remote Kolhufushi island where all the 878 inhabitants have been made homeless. He also visited the nearby Vilufushi island.

The 1,156 residents of Vilufushi have been moved out to four nearby islands that escaped relatively unscathed in the sea surge, which was caused by an underwater earthquake near Indonesia.

Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom said the best way foreigners could help the Maldives would be by spending their holidays in this country known as one of the most exotic tourist destinations in Asia.

Gayoom used the tragedy to pardon dissidents accused of treason, withdrawing charges against four of his key opponents who were locked up after an unprecedented uprising against his one-party rule in August, and calling for unity.

He also postponed parliamentary elections set for Jan. 22 because of the disaster.

The Maldives has accused scientists of not sharing information that could have reduced the tsunami destruction.

The death and damage in the Indian Ocean atoll nation could have been minimized if authorities had been alerted when the tsunamis began, Foreign Minister Fathulla Jameel said.