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U.S. helicopters shuttled injured refugees, many of them children, out of some of the worst hit parts of tsunami-devastated Aceh province, even as reports surfaced of trafficking in orphans from the disaster.
Pilots skimmed low over flattened villages and jungles on the west coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island looking for signs of life, touching down briefly to collect the badly injured and fling out packages of food and water.
"They were ecstatic as we flew in. They were blowing us kisses. I think they were really amazed to see us, although some of the children seemed a bit spooked," U.S. Sea Hawk pilot Lt. Cmdr. Joel Moss told Reuters after his second mission on Monday.
"Yesterday was the best day of flying ever in my career. My mission is normally combat and search and rescue. We are picking up people, giving out food. I could do this for a year. None of us wants to go home."
Pilots described columns of refugees trudging up the coast toward the provincial capital Banda Aceh, while others camped out above the high-water line.
Some had reached a village about 10 km (six miles) inland where Moss said a huge H had been laid out on the ground to guide rescuers, and about 400 people rushed out of the trees as they landed.
"All the villagers started coming out of the woodwork, telling us they needed help. They said there were a lot more wounded people further inland up in the mountains," he said.
Aid workers say some of the worst affected by the Dec. 26 quake and tsunami were children, who account for a large portion of the nearly 100,000 Indonesians killed.
Many of those who survived have lost entire families.
CHILD TRAFFICKING
Indonesian officials said meanwhile they had launched an investigation into unconfirmed reports of child trafficking in the wake of the Dec. 26 quake and tsunami that wiped whole towns off the map.
"We cannot say that it has happened, because at the moment it is a chaotic situation. However, the ministry will investigate as we cannot tolerate such a thing," said Makmur Sunusi, a social ministry official.
The health ministry on Monday raised the Indonesian death toll by more than 13,000 to 93,081, eight days after massive waves swept across parts of Aceh province's coastal plain.
Aceh was the hardest hit of the Indian Ocean areas struck by the tsunami, accounting for more than half the total death toll, which crept toward 150,000.
Banda Aceh airport was a hive of activity, with huge military transport planes taking off and landing and U.S. choppers disgorging refugees.
At villages where injured were collected, dozens of starving survivors rushed landing choppers, forcing air crews to fend them off and pilots to occasionally abort landings.
A photographer from U.S. magazine Stars & Stripes, Jim Schulz, returning from one flight said that people were wrestling each other for food.
"It was an absolute mob," he said. In Banda Aceh city itself, where as many as 30,000 of the pre-tsunami population of 300,000 are feared dead, a few street markets and even banks were reopening. But the stench of death hung heavily in the air with thousands of corpses still littering the rubble of destroyed homes, shops and other businesses, adding to fears of disease.
Two elephants in one area were put to work clearing rubble in the search for survivors and the dead. (Additional reporting by Muklis Ali in Jakarta)
Quelle: world - reuters by Dean Yates and Tomi Soetjipto
Indonesia's Yudhoyono to push ahead with reforms despite Aceh disaster UPDATE
(Adds Yudhoyono's comments on 2005 growth, investment outlook)
JAKARTA (AFX) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government will complete its planned 100-day economic reforms program despite having to cope with the impact of the earthquake and tsunamis in Aceh that has claimed more than 94,000 lives in the country.
'In the midst of this grief, no matter how difficult, the government will complete the (100-day) program,' Yudhoyono told stock market participants prior to ringing the opening bell at the Jakarta Stock Exchange to mark the first trading day of this year.
Large coastal areas in Aceh and North Sumatra were devastated by tidal waves following an earthquake measuring 9.0 off the Aceh coast on December 26.
Government officials said the disaster will burden the state budget with reconstruction costs estimated at 10 trln rupiah.
Although the 2005 state budget will be affected, the disaster should not affect Indonesia's economic growth, Finance Minister Jusuf Anwar said last week.
Gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to grow 5-6 pct this year.
The earthquake struck in the third month since Yudhoyono's administration took over. Yudhoyono took office on Oct 20.
Yudhoyono's 100-day working program outlines his priority reforms agenda and aims to improve public confidence in the new government.
It covers, among other things, plans to revise the 2005 state budget, review tax regulations and continue with the sale of government stakes in banks.
Development of the stock market is also part of the plan, Yudhoyono told market participants.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange's composite index rose over 44 pct last year.
'This is the strongest performance in Indonesia's modern stock market history, and hopefully this year it can be further improved,' Yudhoyono said.
He said the stock market should maintain its strong performance on the back of good corporate governance, improving security, social and political stability, law enforcement and the ongoing fight against corruption, collusion and nepotism.
'Natural (Oslo: NTL.OL - news) catastrophes will not be an obstacle to 2005 economic growth,' Yudhoyono said later in a question and answer session with markets participants.
He expressed confidence that the investment outlook for Indonesia will remain positive this year.
Yudhoyono said Indonesia and other countries are developing an early warning system for tsunamis.
He said security conditions should improve this year although terrorism remains a threat, while various demonstrations can also be expected.
A number of demonstrations have taken place following the government's plan to raise fuel prices this year to reduce the subsidy burden on the state budget.
(1 usd = 9,355 rupiah)
Ouelle: http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/050103/323/f9jjr.html
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