Indonesia starts building refugee camps for 500,000, while world leaders p

[Judi Lynn]

Indonesia starts building refugee camps for 500,000, while world leaders prepare to meet on tsunami relief
BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, January 5, 2005

(01-05) 04:02 PST JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) --

The United Nations said Wednesday that camps for up to 500,000 tsunami refugees will be built on devastated Sumatra island, while world leaders headed to Indonesia to discuss how to distribute billions of dollars in aid.

Indonesia's government has started breaking ground on four camps around Banda Aceh, the main city in northern Sumatra, where an estimated 1 million people were left homeless by the tsunami. The United Nations plans to provide tents and equipment for up to 500,000, said Michael Elmquist, who heads the U.N. relief effort in Aceh.

The existing camps are overcrowded and lack facilities. Indonesian authorities have agreed the new camps will have clean drinking water and latrines, Elmquist said.

"The camps that are here have been improvised by the people themselves," he said. "But these are definitely not according to our standards. The sanitation is totally insufficient."
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