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- 14 January 2011
The Asian Tsunami: Aid and Reconstruction After a Disaster
"by Sisira Jayasuriya (Author), Peter McCawley (Author)"
A book review by Nicholas Newman The problem Disaster is a regular topic in the news, whether man-made or natural, in recent years there have been earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and floods. It would appear many disaster prone countries have failed to implement adequate pre-disaster risk assessment programs to mitigate the impact of such disasters. What is this book about? The authors of ‘The Asian Tsunami: Aid Reconstruction after a Disaster’ by Sisira Jayasuriya and Peter McCawley focuses on the events surrounding the Asian Tsunami of 26 December 2004. This book studies the rescue and rehabilitation efforts of local, national and international stakeholders in the aftermath of the disaster that killed 230,000 people and made 1 million people homeless. This book focuses on three of the affected countries, in this case Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. ‘The Asian Tsunami’ is different from other books on the topic in that it is based on the work of researchers located in the affected countries, so is perhaps unique in being able to provide a local insight to the received international view on the topic. What were some of the problems identified? Despite the heroic aid efforts, which the participants can be justly be proud, there were problems faced by the various stakeholders concerned in implementing the multinational US$17 billion aid effort. Sisira Jayasuriya and Peter McCawley highlight several major issues that stakeholders faced in the aid delivery effort. These include issues of differences in organisational and administrative culture, together with concerns about matters of coordination and management. There were, for instance, differences in objectives between the media and decision makers as to how aid should be delivered and what should be prioritised. This led to the decision that house construction should receive most attention at the expense of rebuilding of the local economy. It did not help that many of the aid delivery agencies were what is termed as supply-orientated donors, which meant they focused on providing a particular good or service irrespective of the actual needs and wants of the communities they purported to serve. Then there was the issues of project management of the aid effort, in many of the affected countries there was not in existence at the time an agency with the powers to step in and project manage the rescue and rehabilitation effort. For instance, by the third week after the Tsunami had hit North Western Sumatra, the area most affected by the Tsunami, surviving local officials had to deal with the arrival of 250 different aid agencies to this devastated region. This administrative challenge led Indonesia to set up a dedicated central government agency known as the Badan Rekonstruski dan Rehabilitasi (BRR) to project manage the rehabilitation effort in the effected region. For those involved in the reconstruction effort, legal, financial and procedural challenges were the cause of many of the delays in stakeholders completing their often-ambitious targets. BRR for instance was delayed because of land ownership disputes, administrative delays and sharp increases in costs due to labour, skills and building materials shortages in the region. In fact, it is my experience as an international energy journalist, the problems the aid delivery agencies faced were typical of the experiences faced by many investors involved developing major schemes, at the best of times in these countries. What are the main recommendations? The primary one is that disaster prone countries should have disaster risk management policies in operation, which improve an areas ability to withstand and recover from such events. In addition, local communities need to play a greater role in the planning, delivery and implementing of such programs, especially in the design of disaster preparedness programs. Have these countries learnt these lessons? Certainly, countries such as Indonesia have implemented many of the book's recommendations, though many observers would suggest that more resources and political commitment should be focused on the problem. Would I recommend this book? 'The Asian Tsunami: Aid Reconstruction after a Disaster’ is designed for all those interested in the issues of aid delivery. However, I do suggest this book should also be essential reading for all politicians and journalists concerned with the issue. Nevertheless, I would recommend that the authors write another book dealing with how to prevent or mitigate the problems faced by disaster prone countries. Such a book should cover the pre-disaster risk assessment aspects of this vital topic, to guide decision makers in policy formulation and implementation.
Book details
Sisira Jayasuriya, Professor of Economics, School of Economics and Finance, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia and Peter McCawley, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd (30 Nov 2010) Language English ISBN-10: 1848446926 ISBN-13: 978-1848446922 | ||
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