Former US president Bill Clinton yesterday visited a Thai gypsy village damaged by the deadly 2004 tsunami, ahead of a planned stop in Indonesia's Aceh province where missteps and delays have marred reconstruction.
Clinton, on his final trip to the region as the top UN envoy for the tsunami recovery effort, highlighted concerns about land rights when he visits the gypsy village.
Known as the Moken, the gypsy are seafaring people who live in Thailand and Myanmar.
PHOTO: AP
Clinton also planted mangrove trees to promote a World Conservation Union program to rebuild Thailand's Andaman Sea Coast, where the massive waves killed more than 5,400 people.
Noting that coastal deforestation significantly worsened the destruction from Hurricane Katrina, Clinton praised the gypsies in Hin Look Dio for attempting to preserve their natural habitat.
"This little tree is symbolic of a balanced life and how they [the Moken] help each other preserve their villages," he said as he planted a mangrove sapling.
Later yesterday Clinton visited barracks for thousands left homeless by the tsunami in hardest-hit Aceh province, Indonesia, where he heard complaints about the slow pace of rebuilding and unhealthy living conditions.
Clinton also stopped at a temporary housing site built by the Australian Red Cross, a school and visited several new homeowners.
He was quick to acknowledge the many problems survivors still face and said more needs to be done.
"Only 30 to 35 percent of the people have been put back into permanent housing," Clinton said of the nearly half-million left homeless in a dozen countries.
"We have to do better than that," he said.
"I hope Clinton's visit can speed up rebuilding of our house," said Syarifuddin, a refugee who goes by only one name, and who was among hundreds to turn out at the Lhoong Raya camp to welcome him yesterday.
Cut Darnita, a housewife, said Clinton listened seriously to people's complaints about a lack of sanitation, clean water and medical facilities in their camp.
"He inspired us to be patient and resolute in facing our misfortunes, and promised to stand by us," she said.
Nearly a quarter of a million people in 12 Indian Ocean countries died in the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami caused by a massive, magnitude 9.3 earthquake off Indonesia's Sumatra island.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Clinton to be a special envoy for tsunami relief for a two-year period ending this month.
Clinton's Aceh visit comes at a sensitive time, with many survivors complaining that the reconstruction process has been too slow or fraught with problems.
While most survivors have been moved from tents to small homes, many have complained they are now stuck with poorly built structures that constantly leak, are termite-infested or located in flood zones.
Corruption has also marred the process, with several non-government organizations forced to delay projects or rebuild homes after contractors and suppliers ran off with the funds.
Clinton wrapped up his tour of tsunami-hit communities in Asia with a meeting between government officials and former rebels to review the peace process in Aceh province, long torn by a separatist guerrilla war.
The government and rebels signed a deal last year in Finland, ending a conflict that killed about 15,000 people.
Before visiting Thailand and Indonesia, Clinton toured a rebuilt school and new homes on Friday in the southern Indian coastal village of Thazanguda that was devastated by the tsunami.
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