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PIME missionary slams government, international NGOs and media for lack of interest in the reconstruction of the Indian archipelago. Monsoons are coming and we need real homes, not tents, he says.
by Marta Allevato
INDIA
Chennai (AsiaNews) – The Catholic Church is the only hope left to tsunami victims on India’s Andaman Islands. Most NGOs and rescue teams have left the islands stricken by the December 26 tsunami. Media interest has waned and the government has not kept its promise to compensate the population; meanwhile people are still waiting for housing so they can start living again.
These charges are made by Fr Anthony Thota, coordinator for the tsunami campaign launched by the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Mission (PIME) in India.
“I visited the Andamans last week and the situation is really bad,” the Chennai-based (Tamil Nadu) missionary told AsiaNews. “There are very few NGOs left to bring real help to the people; most have left the territory”.
Father Thota said that the United Nations has kept some groups providing psychological support to the victims, but concrete help is being provided primarily by Caritas India, Catholic Relief Service and PIME.
“The authorities,” the PIME missionary laments, “say they must first wait to find land on which to build the promised housing”, whilst people must continue living in temporary tent cities in dangerous sanitary conditions. And the situation risks getting worse.
“In a few months, in July that is, the monsoon season will begin and heavy rains will make an already precarious situation worse and more dangerous,” Father Thota said.
New Delhi promised millions of dollars in aid for post-tsunami recovery on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, one of the worse hit areas in India, but so far victims received measly checks.
Charity Champion, a woman who lives on Nacowrie, an island of the Nicobar group, got only two rupees (less than five US cents) for an entire plantation of 300 coconut trees worth 20,000 rupees (US$ 457)
Full article
by Marta Allevato
INDIA
Chennai (AsiaNews) – The Catholic Church is the only hope left to tsunami victims on India’s Andaman Islands. Most NGOs and rescue teams have left the islands stricken by the December 26 tsunami. Media interest has waned and the government has not kept its promise to compensate the population; meanwhile people are still waiting for housing so they can start living again.
These charges are made by Fr Anthony Thota, coordinator for the tsunami campaign launched by the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Mission (PIME) in India.
“I visited the Andamans last week and the situation is really bad,” the Chennai-based (Tamil Nadu) missionary told AsiaNews. “There are very few NGOs left to bring real help to the people; most have left the territory”.
Father Thota said that the United Nations has kept some groups providing psychological support to the victims, but concrete help is being provided primarily by Caritas India, Catholic Relief Service and PIME.
“The authorities,” the PIME missionary laments, “say they must first wait to find land on which to build the promised housing”, whilst people must continue living in temporary tent cities in dangerous sanitary conditions. And the situation risks getting worse.
“In a few months, in July that is, the monsoon season will begin and heavy rains will make an already precarious situation worse and more dangerous,” Father Thota said.
New Delhi promised millions of dollars in aid for post-tsunami recovery on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, one of the worse hit areas in India, but so far victims received measly checks.
Charity Champion, a woman who lives on Nacowrie, an island of the Nicobar group, got only two rupees (less than five US cents) for an entire plantation of 300 coconut trees worth 20,000 rupees (US$ 457)
Full article