30.11.2006 - Comunicado de prensa
Thailand: Inauguration of fishing communities

Two years after the tsunami that devastated the shores of the Indian Ocean on 26 December 2004, several reconstruction and rehabilitation programmes financed by Switzerland and implemented by SDC are drawing to a close. The Confederation's Humanitarian Aid, which committed a total of 35 million Swiss francs to these operations, mainly focused its efforts on three countries - Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

In Thailand, Switzerland invested some 4 million Swiss francs (1.7 million from the Swiss Government, 280'000 in private donations and 2 million from Swiss Solidarity) in rehabilitating the fishing communities on the islands of Ko Phra Thong and Ko Kho Khao. The reconstruction of housing, schools, a health centre, community infrastructure, jetties and fishing boats restored normal living conditions for some 280 families as well as giving them prospects for a sustainable livelihood in an environment that makes sparing demand on natural resources.

Now this work is nearly complete, and all the infrastructure is to be handed over to the recipients. On Saturday, 2 December 2006, two official ceremonies will be held on the island of Ko Phra Thong and then in Khura Buri. In addition to representatives of Thailand's local and central government, this event will be attended by Rodolphe Imhoof, Switzerland's Ambassador to Thailand, Toni Frisch, Delegate for Humanitarian Aid and Head of the SHA, as well as by the President of Swiss Solidarity, Remigio Ratti, and its Director, Felix Bollmann.

In Indonesia, SDC financed programmes to the tune of 12.5 million Swiss francs, 10.5 million of which were earmarked for emergency assistance. A further million was used to provide financial support for some 7,500 families in the Banda Aceh region who had taken in survivors of the disaster. Finally, one million francs (plus 5 million contributed by the Swiss Red Cross and Swiss Solidarity) was used mainly to rehabilitate Banda Aceh's main water purification station and three sub-stations in the city of Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar district.

In Sri Lanka, SDC committed roughly 16 million Swiss francs, 4.5 million of which went on emergency assistance. Eight million francs were used to finance reconstruction programmes for a dozen or so schools in the regions of Jaffna, in the north of the island (under Tamil control), and Matara, in the south. Two more millions were earmarked for a project entitled Cash for Repair and Reconstruction, in the form of cash payments for rebuilding homes destroyed or damaged by the tsunami. About 9,000 families received such support, which also benefited the local building industry. This programme was largely financed out of Swiss Solidarity funds and implemented by SDC and its partners (Swiss Red Cross and Entraide Protestante Suisse).