Three years after the tsunami

Three years after the tsunami

Thai News Agency, dpa

Thailand and Southeast Asian neighbours wracked by the tsunami three years ago marked the anniversary Wednesday with thousands of ceremonies, commemorations - and more preventative exercises.

At least 250,000 lives were estimated to have been lost in the Indian Ocean tsunami, with Indonesia, the Maldives and Sri Lanka the worst-hit.

Public and private sectors held a tsunami remembrance ceremony to mark the third anniversary of the December 26 disaster that hit Thailand's six Andaman coastal provinces killing more than 5,000 persons three years ago

Phuket deputy governor Tri Akkaradecha presided at a ceremony marking the disaster and paid tribute to the victims of the giant tidal waves that hit the southern provinces on Boxing Day.

The ceremony was held at Loma Park of Patong Beach, Kratu district and families of the victims and tourists attended the rite.

At Mai Khao Cemetery in Thalang district, where unidentified bodies are being kept, religious ceremonies – Buddhist, Christian and Muslim -- were held.

Thailand's six Andaman coastal provinces -- Phang-nga, Krabi, Phuket, Ranong, Trang and Satun -- were hit by the unprecedented tsunami of Dec 26, 2004, with over 5,000 local residents as well as Thai and foreign holidaymakers losing their lives in the tidal waves.

During the evening, a "Light Up Phuket" activity will be held to let the victims relatives and general public to join the candle-lit ceremony to pay tribute to the dead and other victims.

Meanwhile, the ceremonies in Phang-nga were held in three locations in the morning: at the grounded police patrol vessel Tor 813 at Tambon Kikkak in Takua Pa district, in Ban Nam Khem Tsunami Memorial Park, and Bang Maruan Cemetery for the unidentified victims.

Wednesday evening, religious services will take place at Chong Fah Beach, Bang Niang in Takua Pa district and Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya will preside.

Prime Minister Gen. Surayud Chulanont and ambassadors accredited to Thailand were scheduled to join the ceremony.

An exhibition commemorating the life of Khun Poom Jensen, son of Princess Ubolratana, eldest daughter of His Majesty the King is also being held.

In addition to memorial services, Krabi and Phuket will present an exhibition to educate the public regarding the tsunami.

In Indonesia's Aceh province on the northern end of Sumatra, where more than 170,000 were either dead or missing when a massive 9.0- magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami on December 26, 2004, hundreds of survivors prayed at mass graves and mosques.

A safety drill to test emergency relief teams meanwhile went ahead in West Java's Banten province watched by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other high-ranking government officials.

These responded to a mock chemical leak in a factory if an 8.5 magnitude quake were to hit the area. The warning system was set up after villages were pulverised along Indian Ocean shores, killing or leaving missing about 230,000 people.

In an attempt to improve the alert system, the government planned to set up 11 buoys around the country in 2008 to detect high waves triggered from undersea quakes, Antara news agency quoted officials as saying.

In India - where some 4,000 are still counted as missing and where official figures say 12,405 people lost their lives in the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh - prayer meetings and candle-light vigils went ahead.

Thousands of survivors still await permanent shelters promised in the regions by the government.

Candle-light marches and prayers at the graves of victims were held in Tamil Nadu, while fishermen stayed away from the sea as a mark of mourning.

More than 600,000 people were rendered homeless by the tidal wave that destroyed or damaged an estimated 100,000 homes in India.

In Sri Lanka, where the tsunami claimed more than 40,000 lives, there were more solemn religious ceremonies and alms-giving to invoke blessings on those who perished.

President Mahinda Rajapakasa presided over a ceremony to remember those killed in Matara, 160 kilometres south of the capital. The memorial coincided with the opening of a bridge donated by the South Korean government.

Small religious ceremonies and alms giving were held in almost all coastal areas hit by the devastating waves.

The ceremonies came as the government continued to grapple with rehabilitation and resettlement programmes and to provide housing facilities to more than 117,000 families.

Nearly 20,000 people still need permanent homes and continue to live in temporary houses.

Sri Lanka had estimated that 117,483 houses were needed for those hit by the tsunami, but only 97,692 houses have been completed, according to the Ministry of Nation Building which oversees tsunami housing projects.