The United Nations food agency has expressed deep concern over the slow recovery in Indonesia's tsunami-devastated Aceh, saying another crisis might occur if no action is taken to speed up the ongoing reconstruction and relief efforts.

Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Program Sheila Sisulu said here recently that after nine months, life had not yet returned to normal in Aceh's hardest-hit areas, with most survivors still living in camps or temporary shelters while the UN agency was still facing difficulties in distributing food to those living in remote areas.

"It has been too slow. I think we've all been overwhelmed the challenge -- the government, the international community, all of us," the Jakarta Post daily on Wednesday quoted Sisulu as saying at a press conference on Monday.

Sisulu had just arrived from a visit to Banda Aceh, Calang and Meulaboh, all of which were ravaged by the Dec. 26 quake and tsunami, which killed some 130,000 and left over half a million other homeless in the province.

She said that WFP was feeding 650,000 people and carrying out a school feeding program for a total of 350,000 elementary school students.

Sisulu warned that the tsunami victims would be facing a second wave of crises in the form of outbreaks of disease, hunger and no education if the government and the international community failed to complete the recovery phase immediately.

She said she had discussed the issues with other international institutions operating in Aceh and local administration on necessary actions needed to speed up the recovery efforts.

Source: Xinhua