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TSUNAMI IMPACT: Malaysian Gov't Playing Politics With Aid?
By Anil Netto
PENANG, Malaysia, Jan 4, 2005 (IPS) - Record humanitarian aid might be pouring in for victims of Asia's tsunami disaster, but critics here have accused the Malaysian government of delaying the distribution of badly needed emergency supplies to survivors in Malaysia's coastal areas, northwest of the peninsula.
''There are mattresses and blankets piled up to the ceiling in the relief centers, but they
(the authorities) are waiting for some big-shot government politician to come and
distribute them, so that everyone gets media publicity,'' said an angry Saiful Izham, a relief
worker with the Merbok Community Development Center in Kedah.
Some 4,200 people are still at eight relief centers in Kedah, said Saiful, and they have
not been allowed to return home yet.
Over 1,000 homes in seven villages in the state have been affected with almost 500
homes either badly damaged or destroyed, when an undersea quake in the northernmost
tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island spawned tsunamis which tore through the Indian Ocean
coastlines the day after Christmas.
Though fishing villages in Kedah state were destroyed, it was densely populated Penang
Island that recorded the most fatalities in the catastrophe that has killed nearly 150,000
people in the region.
In Penang Island and on the mainland, fishing villages, squatter settlements and shops
along the coast have suffered severe damage. The death toll in Malaysia has risen to 68,
while 299 people have sustained injuries.
''No one took responsibility, nor allow anyone else to. Government agencies and
departments, which should have rushed in automatically did not since they were not
ordered to,'' wrote prominent columnist M G G Pillai in his weekly column in the popular
on-line daily Malaysiakini.
Some of the fund-raising initiatives carried out by prominent firms and media
corporations in Kuala Lumpur have already collected hundreds of thousands of dollars for
tsunami victims.
But a few evacuees from Kampung Masjid - a fishing village in northern Penang - told
IPS they had each only received around 700 Malaysian ringgit (184 U.S. dollars) in the last
seven days - 500 Malaysian ringgit (131 U.S. dollars) from the state's Social Welfare
Board and smaller amounts from 'zakat' (Muslim tithes relief) and Buddhist relief
organisations.
''We have to wait and see if there's more to come,'' said a fisherman who only wanted to
be known as Salim.
Up to 5,000 fishermen in Penang are affected, and 90 percent of some 1,600 boats
were damaged or destroyed. A new boat together with an engine would cost close to
20,000 Malaysian ringgit (5,263 U.S. dollars) while repairs to a damaged boat or engine
could set the owner back from 1,000 to 3,000 Malaysian ringgit (263 to 789 U.S. dollars).
''Where do we get the money for this?'' asked Salim. ''Our houses have been damaged
and we have nowhere to go.''
Out of 100 fishermen at this village, about half are members of the local fishermen's
association.
''They (the fishermen's association) only promised aid to their members,'' Salim laughs,
derisively. ''In contrast, the Buddhists didn't care whether we, Muslims, were members or
not when they gave us aid.''
Some fishermen claim that aid is being channelled to victims through politicians from
the ruling United Malays National Organisation.
Aziz Kassim, a trader from the same village, looks annoyed.
''Aid should go directly to the victims wherever they are in Malaysia,'' he insisted. ''We
don't want what has happened here to happen elsewhere.''
On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said survivors of the tsunami in
Malaysia will have to wait for aid until the government undertakes a full evaluation of
losses, which could take ''more than two to three weeks''.
He said the exercise would determine disbursement of disaster-relief funds now being
collected by various parties, so that aid can be distributed fairly and to the right people.
''There is some perception on the ground that there is a lot of money coming in, but
there is a delay, (with people wondering) why we are not distributing it and so on,'' he was
quoted as telling the national news agency 'Bernama'. ''The money will be distributed, but
we have to do a proper evaluation of the losses.''
Meanwhile the Penang state government said it will look into ways to help the
fishermen regain their livelihood. The relief centre in Tanjong Bungah houses about 50
families or some 200 evacuees from Kampong Masjid village. The evacuees believe they
might be given temporary housing in a longhouse but some want to return to their village.
The situation looks chaotic at relief centres in neighbouring Kedah state, according to
one report. ''The survivors are all in shock. Many are walking around in a daze and at
times incoherent,'' said the independent 'Malaysia Today' website. ''It is clear they require
counselling at best or psychiatric help at worst.''
''Some of the relief centres are well stocked with supplies but they are being closely
guarded by the government coalition members and are not being distributed to those in
need,'' the website claimed. ''They refuse to distribute anything until a minister...can find
time to personally do so with the television crew and reporters in tow.''
One concerned woman, writing in an e-mail discussion group, said she had spoken to
the head of a charity organisation who went to a relief centre to deliver some donations on
Friday. He had brought 100 relief packages of water, biscuits, towels, sarongs, pillows and
blankets to distribute to the victims.
''When he got there, he was not allowed into the school compound, 'for security
reasons','' she said.
The head of the charity, she said, was told that a certain ministry was in charge of
receiving donations.
''They directed him to a storeroom where he had to leave the goods,'' she wrote. ''He was
not even allowed to go in to see what else the people needed and was told that the goods
would be distributed when the people go home.'' (END)
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