Relief agencies struggle to bring aid to survivors

Physical destruction is hampering supply of urgently needed aid, says the UN.

The physical destruction caused by the quake and tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean is hampering the delivery of urgently needed aid to survivors, the United Nations said on Friday.

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Providing relief to isolated island communities, such as those in the Maldives, is particularly tough, said Jamie McGoldrick, an official of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva.

"How do you get to some of these islands which have been swamped? Their harbours are clogged up because of the silting and the change in the shoreline," McGoldrick said. "Or else the jetties and harbours that were there to receive goods coming from Male, the capital, are now destroyed, washed away."

Even in areas with intact or relatively undamaged facilities, so few boats remain intact that aid agencies are having to find other ways to deliver supplies. They are considering using seaplanes, although such aircraft have only a limited cargo capacity, McGoldrick said.

In Indonesia's Aceh province, the area worst-affected by the disaster, bringing in aid by air to the regional capital also is a problem, McGoldrick said.

"In Banda Aceh, where flights are arriving, the airport doesn't necessarily have the infrastructure facilities to handle the cargo that's coming in. That's something of grave concern. "What they are trying to avoid is overburdening systems and infrastructure that are already in bad shape _ which were always very weak anyway."

Flying supplies directly from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, is only a temporary solution because it can create new logistical headaches _ including an aid backlog at the Jakarta airport, said McGoldrick.

"If we're going to have a massive airlift, if that's the only way we can get goods into Banda Aceh ... then flying from Jakarta or elsewhere in the region will cost heavily on the efficiency and the capacity of the airport," he said.