Lead: "The tsunami of 2004 triggered the biggest humanitarian response in history, one that fed the hungry, headed off epidemics and engendered the hope that out of a calamity that took 216,000 lives, a better Indian Ocean rim would emerge. But 18 months later, recriminations are rife, with aid agencies accused of planning poorly, raising unrealistic expectations and simply being incompetent."
Apparently only 23 percent of the $10.4 billion in disaster aid to Indonesia and Sri Lanka has been spent, because so much of it is earmarked for long-term construction projects. And those construction projects are often providing buildings that don't hold up or provide suitable housing, and boats that don't meet the needs of the fishermen who they are supposed to serve.
"I think mistakes occur in every disaster, but for the first time we are seeing it on a large scale," Anisya Thomas, managing director of the California-based Fritz Institute, a nongovernmental organization, or NGO, that specializes in delivering aid and has surveyed survivors in India and Sri Lanka.
"Many large NGOs are involved in rehabilitation and reconstruction activities beyond their capacity," Thomas said. "The large NGOs had trouble finding local resources and, when they did, they often had trouble holding them accountable."
The Newspaper article is based on reporting by The Tsunami Evaluation Coalition. TEC is an independent organization established in February 2005 in the wake of the December 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis. TEC evaluations represent the most intensive study of a humanitarian response since the Rwanda multi-donor evaluation in the mid-1990s. The TEC synthesis report and its "thematic evaluations" are available online.
Comment: Tragedy piled upon tragedy! Unpalatable as I find this news, I am glad that the information is out there. I hope it is transformed into useful knowledge in the disaster relief and reconstruction community.
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