News - Tsunami bringing long list of profiteers

JAKARTA, Indonesia. -- For those looking to make a buck, head to tsunami-wrecked Sumatra. A land in need of plenty. This disaster, like others before it, has its long list of profiteers. Some are black market vendors making money off misery: pirated DVDs of the tsunami's real-life horror show are now on sale in Indonesia, Thailand and India. But there are also people and companies making legitimate profit from the business of disaster relief. Aid agencies distributing critical food and medical supplies are doing much of their buying locally - pumping millions of dollars into companies that make the dried noodles, rice, mineral water and medicine that gets handed out to survivors. USAID, the American government's foreign aid agency, has spent $39 million in Indonesia since the disaster struck, spokeswoman Roberta Rossi said by telephone from Banda Aceh. Buying supplies is only part of the expense. Cartons of aid need to be delivered in vehicles, and the agency allocated $1 million just to cover the rental of 80 trucks and drivers, Rossi said. Acehnese who speak English are also in high demand by aid agencies and journalists who need translators. The going rate is $50 a day - the rough equivalent of a civil servant's monthly wage in pre-disaster Aceh.



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