Most of Japan's bilateral tsunami aid remains untouched

More than two thirds of the bilateral aid Japan offered after the Indian Ocean tsunami remains untouched, raising questions on whether the massive assistance met victims' needs, a report said yesterday.

Japan was one of the biggest donors amid the outpouring of global sympathy following the December 26, 2004 tsunami, disbursing 500 million dollars to Governments of affected countries and international aid groups.

But nearly 70 per cent of the 24.6 billion yen (204 million dollars) in bilateral aid to Indonesia, the Maldives and Sri Lanka remains unused nearly a year later, the Asahi Shimbun reported.

Indonesia, the biggest aid recipient at 14.6 billion yen, did not start using the money until May 4 and as of November 10 had withdrawn only 15.8 per cent of the funds, the newspaper said.

"I wonder if the countries instead used aid from non-governmental organisations that moved more spontaneously," Hiromitsu Muta, Chairman of the ministry's overseas development aid evaluation panel, told the daily.

"Japan should have taken more initiative" in reconstruction projects," he said. - AFP