The United Nations is championing a global effort to build a tsunami watch-out system worldwide in 2007 as rescue and relief operations continued in the worst-hit areas in Indonesia on Thursday.
UN LEADS EFFORT TO BUILD GLOBAL ALERT SYSTEM
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday called for the establishment of a global warning system covering all kinds of threats including tsunami in the aftermath of the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunamis which killed an estimated 160,000 people in 12 Asian and African countries and left 1.8 million homeless.
"Last week's meeting in Jakarta called for the establishment of a regional early warning system for the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. But we should do even more," Annan told a UN conference on small islands on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.
"In such an endeavor, no part of the world should be ignored," Annan said, noting that the new system should also cover hazards like "storm surges and cyclones."
At the conference, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced their plan to team up with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to set up a global tsunami watch-out system in 2007. A similar system for the Indian Ocean could be ready as early as June, 2006.
Germany said on Thursday it will offer a new tidal wave warning system developed by its scientists to tsunami-devastated Indian Ocean countries. Research Minister Edelgard Bulmahn said the system could be put into operation within three years and can be linked to existing tsunami warning networks.
Bulmahn said the first stage of installing the system could cost around 25 million euros and could be funded with the German government's aid money to the disaster-hit region.
It is composed of several sea monitoring stations. Should a quake occur, they would send an alert within minutes on the Internet, triggering the automatic dispatch of e-mails and mobile phone text messages to all its users.
The White House said Thursday that it plans to expand its tsunami warning system and join an international effort to create a global warning system.
A brief statement by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, which advises the president, said the country would expand tsunami "detection and monitoring capabilities" as part of an international effort that now includes 54 nations.
The administration has also been considering setting up a similar one in the Atlantic, US officials said.
The existing US tsunami warning system in the Pacific includes a network of seismic monitors to measure underwater earthquakes, sea-level monitoring stations, and deep-water tsunami detection buoys. The information gets processed at two tsunami warning centers -- one in Alaska and the other in Hawaii.
INDONESIA URGED TO LIFT MILITARY AID DEADLINE
As international relief workers continue operations in Indonesia, one of the worst hit countries by the tsunamis, the United Nations urged Indonesia to reconsider its March deadline for the use of foreign military in the massive aid operation.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland told a press conference in New York that military presence would be needed beyond March to ensure quick supply of water, fuel, hardware and personnel to some inaccessible areas.
"I am sure the Indonesian government will agree with me the most important thing is to save lives and not have deadlines," he told the Asia Society in New York before his news conference.
On Wednesday, Indonesian Vice President Yusuf Kalla said he wanted all foreign military to leave his country by the end of March or "the sooner the better," saying the emergency would be over by then.
The Indonesian military on Thursday called on foreign military units in tsunami-ravaged Aceh to focus on the supply of heavy equipment and cleaning-up work rather than sending more troops in humanitarian assistance.
"The main problem we are faced with today is how to clean the debris too weighty to human. Therefore we ask the foreign militaries doing relief mission in Beijing to give priority to heavy machines and operators instead of troops," military spokesman Sjafrie Syamsoeddin said.
He said 31 countries have sent troops to Aceh on relief missions, where more than 105,000 people were killed in the earthquake-triggered tsunami.
The United States, which had around 14,000 troops in Aceh for relief work, said Thursday it will withdraw its troops as soon as it is required by Jakarta.
Brig. Gen. Christian Cowdrey with the US Marine Corps (USMC) said in Aceh that the US government has not set a deadline for the relief mission, adding that such a decision rest entirely with the Indonesian government.
TSUNAMI AID TO BE BOOSTED AS LOSSES GET ASSESSED
The International Red Cross said Thursday it had nearly tripled its emergency appeal for aid to tsunami victims over six months to about US$155.3 million.
The Geneva-based group said in a report that it also anticipated "sizable budgets" for longer term recovery and rehabilitation programs in South Asia.
The UN General Assembly will hold a special session next Tuesday to consider strengthening coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance with a special focus on the December tsunami.
The Indonesian government on Thursday put its preliminary estimate of losses in the tsunami at 15 trillion rupiah, or US$1.7 billion. Vice President Kalla said the figure was based on the range of areas and the number of buildings destroyed by the tsunami.
A further assessment would be conducted jointly by the government, the World Bank and other countries to try to determine the exact figure, he said.
At Tuesday's UN-sponsored tsunami conference in Geneva, Indonesia received pledges of US$900 million in aid over the next six months, Kalla said.
Meanwhile, Indonesia welcomed the decision by the Paris Club of donor nations to freeze debt repayment for tsunami-hit countries.
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said Thursday his country is " very grateful" for the move. He also made clear that Jakarta would not take on new soft-loans, as this would create new debts.