94,100 Death Toll, 400,000 refugees
Official death toll has risen slightly to 94,100, with 387,607 people listed as refugees, the health ministry said Tuesday.
Annan off to Asia
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Monday headed to Indonesia to visit, meet regional leaders and bring a "message of hope" to millions affected by the Asian tsunami disaster.
UN to set up relief coordination center for tsunami victims in Singapore
The UN will establish a coordination center in Singapore to help victims, the city-state's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday.
UN food agency says it has delivered enough food for 100,000 in Aceh
UN FAO said on Monday its aid efforts for victims in Aceh were accelerating, with enough food and water delivered to the remote region to feed more than 100,000 people for a week. The UN FAO said it had delivered 318 tons (351 U.S. tons) of rice, noodles and biscuits and 40,000 liters (10,567 gallons) of water to Aceh.
Debt Rescheduling
The government wants to reschedule debts with foreign donors to finance reconstruction of Aceh and North Sumatra. The country is facing a projected widening state-budget deficit from the calamity. "I am optimistic that we can reach an agreement for debt rescheduling outside of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) legal frame as this is for humanitarian aims," Minister of Finance Yusuf Anwar said on Monday.
The IMF is considering granting Indonesia debt relief to help cushion the massive financial impact of the calamity. The offer came after Italy, Germany and the U.S. indicated their willingness to consider offering debt relief to tragedy-hit countries, including Indonesia. The rescheduling is expected to be proposed without the IMF as an umbrella and assistance to the deal, since Indonesia is no longer under the IMF program.
Jakarta to hold International relief summit
Indonesia is preparing for an emergency summit of the ASEAN leaders and other nations to help coordinate relief efforts; it will be in Jakarta, Thursday. Presidential spokesman Dino Pati Djalal said confirmed attendants were: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan; Malaysian PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi; Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo; Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Chinese PM Wen Jiabao; New Zealand PM Helen Clark; South Korean PM Lee Hae-chan; Japanese PM Junichiro Koizumi; and Australian PM John Howard. Annan will be accompanied by World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, already in Thailand now, will visit Jakarta on Tuesday on a 3-day visit, though it’s unclear if he will be at the summit. He is scheduled to visit Aceh along with the U.S. special envoy Jeb Bush.
The European Union Delegation of the European Commission to Indonesia said in Jakarta on Monday that the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Assistance Louis Michel would arrive in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Souce: The Jakarta Post (unless otherwise stated).
