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Asian Tsunami: Emergency Relief

My Lords, I add my thanks to those already offered to the noble Lord, Lord Naseby, for securing this important debate. Naturally, I share his desire to ensure that the Maldives and Sri Lanka, among other countries, get back on their feet as soon as possible. I endorse the thanks he gave to the NGOs he mentioned. I also join the tribute paid by the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, to aid workers working in situations of conflict or areas of disaster. Like the noble Baroness, Lady Rawlings, I commend the work being undertaken by the Saga Charitable Trust. I fully agree with her comment that we must endorse and fulfil all the pledges made to people in those countries. I agree with my noble friend Lord Giddens that, while Africa is of the utmost importance, we cannot, and must not, forget poor people in other parts of the world. Like him, I am glad that global poverty is at the top of the national and international agenda. I am sure that in this year, 2005, we will start to make a real difference in the world. Like the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Llandudno, I am an optimist. I hope that, after the dreadful devastation of the tsunami, some good will come out of it and some lessons will be learnt. As noble Lords said, an exceptional level of support has been given by governments, donors, NGOs and members of the public to the countries that suffered from the terrible devastation. But the overwhelming human and economic problems resulting from the tsunami will not be solved overnight. Delays are frustrating, but we must recognise that it will take many months and years for the reconstruction to be complete. That is not an excuse for delays, but it means that we must accept that delays will occur. The UK Government have committed £75 million towards immediate humanitarian aid, but, recognising the critical importance of longer-term reconstruction in the region affected by the tsunami, we have said that   we will provide up to £65 million towards reconstruction. The scale of the response to Indonesia was great and the immediate relief response was effective. However, the Indonesian Government have been slow to launch the reconstruction phase and, to date, it has been driven by the people of Aceh, with support from local and international NGOs and the UN. The government-run Aceh reconstruction and rehabilitation agency has just started work, so I hope that the pace of progress will now accelerate. As many noble Lords said, Sri Lanka was particularly badly hit by the tsunami and more than 31,000 people were killed. The response to that country has been staggering, and more than $2.7 billion has been pledged by the international community. As a result, the initial reconstruction phase has been successful. For example, 1,600 homes have already been built and contracts have now been signed to reconstruct 163 of the 182 schools that were damaged or destroyed. The Government of Sri Lanka have been working directly with donors to implement reconstruction programmes. However, as noble Lords said, assistance has been slow in northern areas controlled by the   LTTE, because it is classified as a terrorist organisation and many donors are therefore unable to work with it. To try to get round that, the government are negotiating a joint mechanism with the LTTE so that donors can provide reconstruction assistance in the northern areas. In the mean time, many NGOs are working in the north so that some reconstruction is taking place. Our humanitarian advisers in the country are monitoring the response and are confident that aid is getting through to those in need, but the Government agree that a resolution of the conflict is desirable. Indeed, it is an absolute necessity if Sri Lanka is to be a prosperous country that benefits the whole of its people. As noble Lords said, there have been delays in the release of land for house reconstruction. The Sri Lankan Government have banned building within the buffer zone that stretches 100 kilometres from the coast. The difference between bureaucracy and the reality on the ground is indeed baffling.