US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO283

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000283 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE ALSO PASS TO USAID 
STATE FOR TSUNAMI TASK FORCE 1 
USAID/W FOR A/AID ANDREW NATSIOS, JBRAUSE 
DCHA/OFDA KISAACS, GGOTTLIEB, MMARX, RTHAYER, 
BDEEMER 
AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA 
TSUNAMI RESPONSE MANAGEMENT TEAM 
 
SIPDIS 
DCHA/FFP FOR LAUREN LANDIS 
DCHA BUREAU FOR ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR ROGER 
WINTER 
ANE DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR MARK WARD 
BANGKOK FOR OFDA SENIOR REGIONAL ADVISOR TOM 
DOLAN 
KATHMANDU FOR OFDA REGIONAL ADVISOR WILLIAM 
BERGER 
GENEVA FOR USAID KYLOH 
ROME PASS FODAG 
NSC FOR MELINE 
CDR USPACOM FOR J3/J4/POLAD 
USEU PASS USEC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, AEMR, PREL, PGOV, CE, MV, Tsunami 
SUBJECT: MALDIVES - EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMIS: 
USAID/DART SITREP #4 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  On January 28, the USAID/Disaster Assistance 
Response Team (DART) Field Officer (FO) posted 
to Male' in Maldives departed the islands for 
Colombo.  A summary of the U.S. Government's 
assistance in Maldives in response to the 
earthquake and tsunamis follows below.  End 
Summary. 
 
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USAID Assistance to Maldives 
----------------------------------- 
 
2.  USAID's Office of U.S Foreign Disaster 
Assistance (OFDA) provided 280 rolls of plastic 
sheeting, 2,016 hygiene kits, 9,600 10-liter 
water containers, and three 40,000-liter water 
bladders to Maldives.  The cost of commodities, 
including transportation, was USD 163,000.  The 
commodities were consigned to the U.N. 
Children's Fund (UNICEF) and distributed 
according to the program developed by the 
Government of the Republic of Maldives (GORM) 
Aid Coordination Unit.  According to the 
USAID/DART FO, as of January 29, a small balance 
of these items remains to be distributed, and 
the USAID/DART will continue to monitor the 
distribution of these items. 
 
3.  USAID/OFDA provided USD 1.2 million to the 
UNICEF program described in the Flash Appeal of 
January 6, 2005.  UNICEF, in coordination with 
the Ministry of Health and the Maldives Water 
and Sanitation Authority, is programming these 
funds, and the USAID/DART will monitor the 
progress. 
 
4.  USAID's Office of Food for Peace (FFP) 
contributed 180 metric tons of food commodities 
in support of the U.N. World Food Program (WFP). 
The amount of this food assistance was USD 
151,000. 
 
5.  The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 
has arranged for the loan of navigational 
equipment and is in the process of arranging for 
the delivery of the equipment to the civilian 
airport in Male'. 
 
 
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U.S. Military Assistance to Maldives 
------------------------------------- 
 
6.  During late December 2004, the U.S. Military 
donated 45,000 humanitarian daily rations (HDR) 
to the GORM.  In January 2005, the U.S. 
Military's Combined Support Group-Sri 
Lanka/Maldives Detachment deployed two maritime 
pre-positioning vessels to Laamu Atoll, where 
their primary objective was to deliver drinking 
water to communities on the islands of 
Isdhoo/Kalaidhoo, Maabaidhoo, Mundoo, Dhabidhoo, 
Gan, Kaddhoo, and Fonadhoo.  From January 21 to 
January 29, the U.S. Military delivered 346,456 
liters of water to these islands. 
 
7.  In addition, the U.S. Military transported 
one million pounds of relief and rehabilitation 
supplies from Male' to the Forward Coordination 
center at Kaddhoo, as well as to the islands of 
Kalhaidhoo and Maabaidhoo.  These relief and 
rehabilitation supplies included the following: 
137 large family water kits, 33 small family 
water kits, 12 barrels of chlorine (50 kg each), 
1,403 water containers, 1,403 hygiene kits, 24 
weighing scales, 25 medicine boxes, 25 medical 
dressing kits, 750 cases of bottled water, and 
15 pallets of basic foodstuffs. 
 
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U.S. Geological Survey 
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8.  The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is working 
with the Ministry of Environment and 
Construction and the U.N. Environment Program to 
develop a terms of reference for the study of 
the tsunami's impact on the structural integrity 
of the islands.  The USAID/DART FO stated that 
the study would assist both in guiding the 
immediate rehabilitation programs and in 
facilitating the long-term planning of the 
development of quote safe islands end quote. 
 
LUNSTEAD