AUCKLAND: It has been more than a week since the Samoan government released the Tsunami Report to the media, but the jury is still out on the breakdown of figures showing how the millions of dollars of aid money have been spent.
The report speaks generally about the allocation of aid and outlines the government’s Post-Tsunami Recovery Plan for 2010–2013. However, it signals that there is more information to come concerning the actual allocation of funds.
The report states that Samoa is committed to implementing the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness which concerns partner countries’ accountability when receiving aid.
“These are the key principles upon which Samoa is hereby presenting its response to the ever bandied about question by the media both national and international, of; 'Is aid reaching the affected communities and people?' through this publication,” the report said.
Damage summary
What the report does provide are all the statistics of the damage that the tsunami inflicted on the islands of Samoa.
“Of the 850 households affected, about 502 homes were completely destroyed while 360 suffered severe but reparable damage,” says the report.
“Community buildings such as churches, seven schools and two health centres were also affected; many declared structurally unsound and unfit for use.”
The water supply systems had damage to 37 kilometres of varying diameter water mains and 527 household connections in 22 villages.
The electrical damage included 43 felled power poles, 26 street lights, 11 kilometres of overhead cables lost and the destruction of 303 connections to both domestic and commercial customers.
'Life-saving work'
The report also outlines the immediate aid response from Australia and New Zealand, particularly the large contingents of medical professionals that saved more than a few lives.
“At the peak of the tsunami response, 108 Australian emergency and medical personnel were on the ground, 72 of whom were medical staff,” the report said.
“They performed life saving work including 101 surgical operations, 171 field medical treatments, 1,060 emergency department presentations and 33 public health village assessments.
“The New Zealand government deployed a P3 Orion on the September 30 and helicopters to assist with aerial photography, damage assessment, supplies distribution, and search and rescue operations, plus a team of some 130 personnel including medical, forensic, naval diving, engineers and other technical personnel.”
One of the tasks of the naval divers was to restore the underwater pipeline from Upolu, the main island, to Manono Island, to the north west. The pipeline was broken by the tsunami, leaving 800 people on the island without drinking water.
Close to the one year anniversary of the tsunami on September 29, several aid agencies released their own reports.
A significant amount of the aid that was poured into Samoa in the days and weeks following the disaster was delivered directly to villages and families and so the government’s figures would not include those amounts.
Aid agency reports
The International Red Cross reported that donations from Red Cross organisations around the world totaled SF2.6 million (about NZ$3.6 million).
The Red Cross administered cash grants for vulnerable families, to support a variety of assets including livestock, construction costs, educational purposes, labour costs and business development. The amount spent on these grants totaled $185,500 tala (NZ$103,460) on 169 households.
The Red Cross also supplied 249 rainwater harvesting tanks, which are now under the management of the Ministry of Works.
Oxfam have just released their report: From tragedy to recovery: Samoa tsunami response 2009-2010. It says Oxfam’s funding totaled NZ$1.47 million, and came from Oxfam New Zealand; the New Zealand Aid Programme’s Humanitarian Action Fund; Oxfam Australia; Oxfam America; Oxfam Canada; Canada Fund; the German Consulate; as well as other organisations and the public in New Zealand and Australia.
Oxfam worked with Women in Business Development (WIBDI), a local organisation in Samoa and said its “knowledge and expertise were invaluable during the crisis".
Through WIBDI, Oxfam were able to provide counseling and support to affected families, with 4500 people at the peak of the response and 2500 people are receiving ongoing assistance to deal with the psychological trauma.
Oxfam says it also worked in partnership with UNICEF and Red Cross.
It provided 70 families with 5000 litre rainwater tanks and gave gardening and planting advice to 177 families in order to deal with the possible changes to the land and in the environment after the tsunami damage.
Continuing assistance
The Oxfam report also outlined how it is continuing to assist families in Samoa to generate income, specifically through soap production and fetau oil production.
Habitat for Humanity and World Vision had a presence in Samoa immediately after the tsunami and built 89 fales for families from the five worst hit villages.
World Vision reported that New Zealanders donated $265,000, which was allocated to the provision of transistor radios, flashlights, the Habitat for Humanity fales, as well as future emergency service training programs.
Caritas New Zealand received $250,000 in the four weeks following the tsunami and was quick to build emergency fales with accompanying toilet and shower blocks.
The Tsunami Report says the government allocated 58.5 million tala (NZ$32.49 million) for activities during the first year of the recovery plan in its first supplementary budget in December 2009.
That money was spent “in the sectors of water, electricity, housing, health, education, agriculture, tourism, transport, community development, environment management and disaster risk reduction and communications".
“To date around 75 percent of the proposed activities have been completed.”
The recovery plan, which is premised on the ‘build back better’ principle, is estimated to cost just over US$100 million in total.
And while the Samoan government has said that a more specific report about the aid allocation will be released, it just hasn’t been specific enough about when. - Pacific Media Watch
Alex Perrottet
