Fear still rules in tsunami zone

Six months after the Boxing Day tsunami, thousands of people on islands off the coast of Sumatra refuse to return to their homes because of fears of another disaster.

New Zealand aid worker Simon Williamson said from the Sumatran city of Padang that tremors were still being felt regularly and experts predicted another big earthquake and possible tsunami.

"The islanders are living up on the hills in tents, so we have a displaced and nervous population," he said.

He estimated that possibly close to half of the people on the islands were still living away from their homes.

"Sometimes they will come off the mountains during the day to work and at night they will go back up again, so it could be even closer to 90 per cent.

"The worst thing is that people have stopped shipping food out there because of fear of another quake. That fear is not entirely misjudged, either."

Mr Williamson, the Indonesian manager of an agency founded by New Zealand surfers, Surf-Aid International, said enough food was getting through to prevent starvation, but undernourishment made people more vulnerable to disease.

"There are definitely going to be cases of growth stunting," he said. "The consequences of that will be felt for generations to come."

Oxfam New Zealand director Barry Coates said the response of people throughout the world had prevented an even worse crisis after the tsunami.

New Zealanders gave a total of $28.7 million, or an average of $7 a head - by far the biggest contribution by Kiwis to any overseas disaster.

The Government gave a further $68 million, making New Zealand's total aid $96.7 million, or $23.63 a head.

Internationally, Oxfam alone raised US$250 million ($355 million).

"In particular, the relief effort helped to stop the outbreak of diseases such as cholera and typhoid through the delivery of clean water and sanitation," Mr Coates said.

"But what we are finding now is that, while many of the people affected are able to move back to their permanent homes from temporary shelters, by our figures there are around 1.9 million displaced across the region, and 250,000 who died or are missing.

"Our particular concern is the disadvantaged groups who not only suffered the most but also have tended to fare worst in the relief effort."

Oxfam surveys show that almost three-quarters of those who died in parts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India were women. Many could not escape because they were looking after children, or were not strong swimmers.

Oxfam was also concerned that people who did not have legal title to their land in coastal parts of Sri Lanka were being pushed inland to make way for new tourist complexes.

"There has been a move to use land as tourist enclaves, displacing some communities," Mr Coates said.

"That was happening before the tsunami, but now it is happening under the guise of protecting people from further tsunamis."