UN seeks donors to adopt devastated tsunami islands

The UN launched an “adopt an island” programme today to help tsunami victims rebuild their homes in the Maldives islands.

The initiative was launched at 9.30am – the time the gigantic tsunami devastated many of the Indian Ocean archipelago’s inhabited islands on St Stephen's Day, killing 82 people.

“The new initiative invites private donors to adopt an island and thereby directly help one or more among the worst-affected communities to rebuild or repair their houses,” said Moez Doraid, the United Nations Development Programme’s representative in the capital, Male.

Adoptions will cover the cost of purchasing and delivering essential construction materials like cement, steel, timber and tin. Island rebuilding teams will be established and paid through the programme, generating much-needed income opportunities for many islanders.

The most expensive adoption option of €3.5m would enable more than 1,000 people to rebuild and move back into their homes. At the other end of the scale, €73,000 would help 58 families repair their homes.

Doraid said the adopt an island initiative had generated great interest from the private sector, and several companies have responded favourably.

The Maldives is home to 278,000 people scattered across 200 islands in the Indian Ocean. The government is grappling with the task of ferrying aid and materials to those in need.

The tsunami swamped up to 40% of the Maldives, 300 miles south-west of the southern tip of India. But the islands’ low elevation cut down the height of the waves, making them less deadly.