Tsunami: R76m to help Somalia

The United Nations is appealing for $13,1-million (about R76-million) to provide urgent relief to 54 000 Somalis who lost their homes and livelihoods after last week’s deadly tsunami slammed African shores, a UN spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The money will enable aid workers to provide emergency food, water, shelter and medical care to Somalis, and will finance efforts to rebuild shattered livelihoods in the country, said Sandra Macharia, spokesperson of the UN development agency in Somalia.

“The needs could rise as we get access to remote areas of Somalia that remain inaccessible to us due to lack of security assurances and shattered infrastructure,” Macharia said.

The country of seven million has been split among clan-based militias since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.

Somalia’s civil war has devastated the country’s physical infrastructure.

At least 200 people were killed and many others are missing after violent waves hammered the Somali coast on December 26, said Somali presidential spokesperson Yusuf Mohamed Ismail.

Most of the victims are from the Indian Ocean coastline of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, including the north-eastern Hafun island that was hardest hit by the tsunami.

The waves were triggered by the undersea quake centred off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, about 4 500km across the Indian Ocean. Tens of thousands of people were killed in Asia.

The tsunami hit during a fishing season, when Somalis set up temporary fishing settlements closer to the coast, Macharia said.

They lost fishing equipment, personal belongings and livelihoods. The few cattle herders along the coast have also been affected as their grazing has now been partly damaged.

All fishery activities along the Somalia coast seem to have been suspended, the UN said.

“The relief funding we are seeking will cover urgent needs of water, medication, shelter and food as well as long-term needs, like helping the Somalis rebuild their livelihoods,” Macharia said.

Unlike other affected countries in Asia, Somalia lacks the capacity to assess the damage caused by the tidal waves.

The presence of large numbers of anti-aircraft guns owned by local warlords prevented UN officials from flying over parts of the Somali coastline to assess the damage in those areas last week. — Sapa-AP

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