World told to keep momemtum for tsunami recovery

World told to keep momemtum for tsunami recovery

Agence France-Presse, United Nations

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton, the UN special envoy for
tsunami relief, urged the world on Thursday (Friday morning in
Jakarta) to maintain the momentum for recovery in South Asian
countries devastated by the deadly earthquake and tsunami last
December.

"We need to keep up the momentum now, to tackle the difficult,
longer term recovery phase," he told the UN Economic and Social
Council here.

"We are still in the early months of the recovery process
itself," he said.

As special envoy, Clinton has brought together senior
officials from the UN, the World Bank, non-governmental
organizations and the private sector both in the United States
and Europe.

He recently toured the region to assess the recovery effort
and the policy challenges that lie ahead.

He praised the UN and humanitarian groups involved in the
herculean task of rebuilding the region and sought to allay fears
that corruption would deter donors from continuing their
assistance.

"I think anti-corruption measures are being vigorously
embraced," he noted "This is the best effort that I have seen to
be accountable."

"I can assure Americans that the hundreds of millions, maybe
over US$1 billion they pledged, that we're making every effort to
account for it," Clinton said in an interview with CNN. "And so
will the countries involved. That it won't be spent until it can
be effectively spent, but that it will be spent."

Clinton said one priority was for the world community to
ensure that tsunami alert systems being set up in the region are
adequately funded.

"We've got to get these early warning systems up. Thailand put
one up. Other countries are working on them," the former
president said. "They've agreed on compatible technology. But the
world needs to make sure they're all financed and put up and put
up quickly and that they work."

The massive quake measuring more than 9.0 on the Richter scale
sent shockwaves across the Indian Ocean last Dec. 26, unleashing
tsunamis speeding at up to 700 kilometers per hour in every
direction.

A total of 226,000 people were killed or reported missing,
according to the UN.

Overall, more than 1.1 million people have since been
sheltered, more than 1.7 million people have received food aid
and more than one million are being supplied with drinking water
daily, it added.