Life in Male normalizing, relief operation undergoing
10/1/2005 16:21
Two weeks after being hit by the tsunami, life in Maldivian capital Male
is normalizing, and relief operation is still underway in Male and the whole
country.
National flags are half-masted in Male International Airport,
National Square and other main public places, reminding people that the country
was badly hit by tsunami two weeks ago.
Effects of the tsunami are still easy
to be seen all around the capital. A wall of the State Electricity Company
collapsed on Dec. 26 during the tsunami, which also blacked half part of the
capital with a population of around 80,000.
A red container displaced by the
tsunami is still lying about 50 meters from the beach, while all boats have been
brought back to the sea.
Some fishermen are selling their newly-captured fish
in a small market near the dock. Most shops in Male are open on Monday with
customers going in and coming out.
A smallwares shop near the dock of Male is
selling all its items on very low prices. Clerks of the shop said almost all
goods of the shop were watered in the tsunami and they isolated them immediately
after the water receded.
"You can buy three pairs of socks like this by US$1
. Formerly it was sold at US$1 each," Clerk Nufel Usufu told Xinhua.
Workers
are busy in repairing the road near the dock as some parts were totally
destroyed by the tsunami. Soldiers are being seen to board ships, which will
bring them to islands to do repairing and cleaning works.
Taxi drivers are in
difficult situation because visitors have been halved since the
tsunami.
"Before the tsunami I can earn about 400 rufiyaa (US$1 equals 12.75
rufiyaa) per day, recently I can only earn about 200 rufiyaa as some people in
the tsunami-affected islands have no money to travel to Male," said Ahamad
Hussain, who has been working as a taxi driver for more than ten years.
In
the youth-center turned National Disaster Management Center, officials from
different governmental departments are working together to bring the life of the
country to normal.
"We set up this center shortly after the tsunami hit the
country and it will be in Male as long as it is needed," said Ismail Shafeeu,
minister of defense and chief coordinator of relieve operations.
A lot of
important figures have visited the center, including World Bank President James
Wolfensohn as well as high-ranking officials from China, Japan, etc.
The
tsunami which hit the island on Dec. 26 killed 82 people and displaced more than
20,000 while 26 people are still missing.
The government placed the property
loss to at least US$1.3 billion, which is twice the country's annual gross
domestic product.
The government said the relief operation is entering the
second stage, that is, to rebuild the country to the level before the
tsunami.
"In my own opinion, it will take at least five years," said Adam
Maniku, deputy minister of Finance and Treasury, adding that the speed of
rebuilding depends largely on how much money the country can get from the
international community.
Xinhua News
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