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Madagascar seeks $242m in aid
30/03/2007 18:47 - (SA)
Antananarivo - Madagascar on Friday
appealed for $242m to help thousands uprooted from their
homes after a cyclone hit the Indian Ocean island, killing 80
people and destroying paddy fields and roads.
According to the government's disaster management agency,
the Indlala cyclone that struck north Madagascar on March 15 has
affected 105 000 people, leaving many of them homeless. It said
80 people had been confirmed dead, up from 69 a week ago.
"We are short of rice, animals are dying and roads are
completely cut off," President Marc Ravalomanana told reporters,
explaining the most urgent needs in the government's appeal for
$242m from international donors.
"In certain places, it takes two hours in a canoe to reach
the villages."
Local media reports say the price of rice has tripled since
the cyclone on the world's fourth largest island which has a
population of 18.6 million people.
The storm ruined about 8 280 hectares of paddy fields and
wiped out more than 3 600 houses. In some areas, whole villages
were covered in mudslides, officials said.
"The people affected urgently need food and water," said
Alexis Poniatowski, spokesperson for Care International, one of
various aid agencies attending the crisis.
The agency said the most urgent needs were reconstruction of
houses, road repairs and the rehabilitation of rice fields.
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