ADB to Commit $300 Million in Tsunami Funds for Reconstruction in Indonesia
JAKARTA, INDONESIA (11 March 2005) - ADB is committing grants totaling about US$300 million from its Asian Tsunami Fund to help rebuild parts of Indonesia shattered by the December 2004 earthquake and tsunami disaster, it was announced yesterday.
The funds will be allocated from the Asian Tsunami Trust Fund which was set up by ADB in February with an initial contribution of US$600 million to deliver prompt emergency funding to tsunami-affected countries. The fund takes ADB's total financial commitment on tsunami assistance to $775 million, which includes $175 million that can be redirected from ongoing projects and programs for the overall tsunami effort. It will be used to provide assistance to tsunami-affected countries including India, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
ADB's $300 million grant assistance to Indonesia will finance a multisector project called the Earthquake and Tsunami Emergency Support Project (ETESP) to support disaster management, reconstruction and rehabilitation in affected areas of Aceh and North Sumatra.
"The project will have the two-pronged aim of helping in the rebuilding of areas devastated by the tsunami by restoring essential infrastructure and services, and ensuring that incomes and livelihoods are quickly restored," said ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda during a four-day visit to Indonesia and affected areas of Aceh. "The goal will be to help rebuild the affected areas and support their revival to meet the Millennium Development Goals."
He was speaking after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by Minister of Finance Jusuf Anwar, and Minister of National Development Planning and Chairperson of BAPPENAS Sri Mulyani Indrawati, with ADB Director General of Southeast Asia, Ms Shamshad Akhtar.
The ETESP will restore essential public services and rebuild infrastructure and restore private economic activity. These will be carried out in two phases:
The first phase, to be carried out between April of this year and June 2007, will tackle urgent priorities in disaster management, rehabilitation and reconstruction in some of the less devastated zones. These include health, rural water and sanitation, irrigation and flood control, restoration of roads and bridges, local government capacity building, and spatial planning.
The second phase to run until April 2008, will carry out disaster management and reconstruction activities in the most devastated zones. Work will include expansion of activities under Phase 1, restoration of community infrastructure, spatial redesign of affected zones, power and rural electrification, and public administration.
ADB set up the trust fund that will finance the ETESP in February to deliver prompt emergency assistance to the tsunami affected countries. The fund will pool and deliver grants for emergency technical assistance and investment projects to support reconstruction and rehabilitation in India, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
The fund takes ADB's total financial commitment on tsunami assistance to $775 million, which includes $175 million that can be redirected from ongoing projects and programs for the tsunami effort. Some $125 million of these existing projects will be reprogrammed in Indonesia.
ADB will host a Ministerial-level conference on 18 March at its Manila headquarters to sustain the momentum in the rebuilding of tsunami-affected countries of Asia. The meeting aims to establish the progress made to date and share information to avoid duplication and overlap.
Participants will identify gaps in the recovery effort, explore areas for greater coordination and harmonization, and discuss ways to ensure the highest standards of governance in the countries' handling of reconstruction assistance.
In January, an ADB team took part with the Indonesia Government and development partners, including the World Bank, UN and other agencies, on a joint needs assessment, which put reconstruction needs in Indonesia at $1.5 billion in 2005 and $4.5 billion-$5 billion in 2005-2009.
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