MALE, Feb 21 (AFP) - US ex-presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush on Monday ended a tour of four tsunami-hit nations with a visit to the Maldives and said 11.5 billion dollars is needed for reconstruction across the Indian Ocean.
The two men assured affected nations that they would help raise money for reconstruction but also warned that failure to ensure the proper use of foreign aid would result in the drying up of international sympathy.
"We think it will take about 11 to 11.5 billion dollars to restore everyone to normalcy," Clinton told reporters just before leaving the Maldives archipelago, where one in three people were affected by the tsunamis.
"I do not think the world will forget the tsunami tragedy very quickly. It is not that things will bounce back in a month or two months' time. I think everyone understands we are looking in the order of the absolute quickest time of a year in Thailand and a bit more in the hardest hit parts of Aceh (Indonesia)," Clinton said.
He noted that US President George W. Bush had asked Congress for 950 million dollars to help people hit by the December 26 Asian tsunamis that killed some 289,000 people in 11 nations in Asia and Africa.
"He has made it clear that the US will do at least its fair share or more in the long run. We are committed to it," Clinton said.
An estimated seven billion dollars had been pledged worldwide by governments and individuals.
"I am here to encourage the American people to give more money," said Clinton who was chosen along with former president Bush by the current president to head private US fundraising efforts.
Nearly 700 million dollars, he said, had been raised in the United States by way of private contributions, most of it through donations of less than 100 dollars each.
"This means more people are donating," Clinton said in Sri Lanka just before heading to the Maldives for the final leg of his visit.
"We want to keep our people going on doing this work and for that the money has to be well spent.
"Otherwise they will stop giving. But, I am sure that individual governments are putting in place proper accountability and auditing mechanisms to monitor the aid."
Clinton said he had received assurances from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that his government was taking steps to monitor and audit all aid, "and I am sure the Sri Lankan government also has similar plans".
In the Maldives, both men took a tour of the National Disaster Management Centre where local officials briefed them about the rehabilitation efforts in the archipelago.
"We came here as we thought the world attention has not been sufficient," he said.
Bush, 80, said he wanted to convey a message to global tourists that despite losing 62 percent of its gross domestic product to the tsunamis, the Maldives was "up and running."
According to a preliminary tsunami assessment released by the World Bank along with the Asian Development Bank and United Nations Development Programme Maldives will need about 304 million dollars for its rebuilding efforts.
Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom appealed for help from the global community.
"We want the world to help us get back on our feet," he said in his address before the two former presidents. "We invite the world to visit Maldives. Tourism is the best road to our recovery."
Clinton and Bush said the purpose of their visit was to show Maldives' tourism had recovered.
"We want to sent that message across the world so that more people will come into Maldives."
02/21/2005 15:11 GMT - AFP