2004 INDONESIAN TSUNAMI
|
Any young man or woman opening their eyes today on reaching adulthood at the age of 18 would have been a child of just 12 when a devastating tsunami hit the shores of their country on December 26th 2004.
The
boxing day Tsunami killed nearly 200,000 people and devastated the livelihoods of millions more, many of them poor fishers and fish farmers, not least because the tools of their trade, their fishing boats (estimated 20,000), were destroyed in the disaster. Many of the fishing communities were situated right on the beach and whole villages were washed away by the waves.
Indonesia itself is the world's third-largest democracy, the world's largest archipelagic state, and home to the world's largest Muslim population. Even before the tsunami it faced many challenges including poverty, poor education, the prevention of terrorism, consolidating democracy after four decades of authoritarianism, the implementation of economic and financial reforms, combating corruption, holding the military and police accountable for past human rights violations, addressing climate change and and controlling avian influenza.
Against this backdrop the worst earthquake in the Indian Ocean for 700 years hit proving to be the deadliest tsunami ever recorded. Now, six years on, and after billions of pounds of aid has been invested into the region the aftermath is still being felt, not least because traditional beliefs of that area require that a relative of the family must bury the body of the dead, but in many cases, no body remained to be buried. The tsunami has also caused a long lasting environmental impact with fresh water supplies being contaminated by sea water.
However, amidst all of this, perhaps the tsunami had one effect of a positive nature; the widespread devastation led the main rebel group GAM to declare a cease-fire on December 28, 2004, followed by the Indonesian government, and the two groups resumed long-stalled peace talks, which resulted in a peace agreement signed August 15, 2005.
Reconstruction work
went on for many years following the tsunami, including the building
of homes, bridges and other infrastructure alongside water
sanitation projects and the upgrading of fishing harbours improving
the life chances of thousands of families in the long term.
Comments? Contact us here.
|
|
 |
|
|
Related stories:
Following the tsunami
hundreds of really weird and previously unknown fish species were
found washed up on the beaches.
read more...
|
|
