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| Friday, 14 January 2005 |
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From despair to repair by Chandani Jayatilleke
Two weeks into the tsunami devastation, the southern coast is struggling grimly to get on with life. From Kalutara to Galle on the main road, people scour the sands for belongings left behind by the receding waters; they pile debris into divisions; separate bricks and tiles from the rubble. Occasionally, a boutique or a tea kiosk is opened. Railway workers are busy putting back the tracks in Kosgoda and foreigners passing by, stop to click a picture of the desolate scene. The dead grass on either side of the Galle Road unfolds the tragic story of the crashing sea waters inland, which killed over 30,000 persons and displaced nearly one million. The dead grass indicates the distance the giant waves swept in.
As you drive further down, you would begin to experience the magnitude of the devastation - buildings and shops flattened to the ground; now and then a spared building. Fresh air is scarce. The dusty wind keeps on bothering your breathing system; a slight stench hangs in different areas, especially in Hikkaduwa and Galle. We stopped at a tea kiosk which has just been opened in Beruwala. The owners told us that many other traders still found it difficult to get over the chilling fears haunting their minds and business was not normal at all.
"Many boutiques which have not been damaged have not opened as yet, because the traders do not have enough money to replenish and also the consumers do not have money to purchase goods. Therefore, even the unaffected people have to depend on relief to feed their children," he said. In Beruwala, near the main fishing harbour, a group of fishermen sort out their belongings; the motor boats and fishing nets scattered all over. Some have already got on to repair work. "We need to re-start our life and our livelihood which is fishing," said Sunil, a young fishermen - while repairing his fibreglass boat with two of his friends. Many boats docked in Beruwala had been damaged, many had been washed off inland. "But we need to get on with life. We need to earn some money. Yet we are not hoping to go back to sea immediately, because there's no demand for fish at the moment," he said.
Already people have stopped eating fish thinking it is contaminated following the disaster. They believe that the fish may have fed on corpses, he said. B. A. Chandradasa has been in the fishing industry for 20 years, of which 15 have been as a fisherman and five as a guard of several boats. Yet he cannot believe what had happened. "I am still in shock. I had seen many dangerous waves and tides all my life - but I have never seen something of this magnitude before. We never knew a thing called 'tsunami', says Chandradasa. In Galle - many people have returned to the locations where their homes were - the only remaining thing in these houses is the cement or the concrete floor. Some have opted to put up a temporary tent (given by the donors) and begin life anew under a camp tent. From Galle to Koggala, camp tents are becoming a common sight. They come in many different colours - some with badges on it to identify the country or the organisation which donated them. One of the most davastated areas in the Southern coast from Kalutara to Galle is Hikkaduwa and the surrounding villages, Paraliya and Telwatte, where the train disaster took place. The damaged train compartments at Paraliya attract many visitors.
Every private vehicle running up and down Galle road passing Paraliya stops for a while to catch a glimpse of this ill fated train which is guarded by a couple of police officers. In Telwatte, we visited a camp at the Telwatte Purana Raja Maha Vihara where a group of Indian army men were setting up community toilets. Chief incumbent Ven. Pituwala Sumana thera praised the Indian army team for their hard work and dedication. He however lamented that camp residents did not want to do any work meant for their benefit. In one corner of the temple was a counselling program conducted by a group of professionals, in another corner, a charity group was distributing various relief items and in another was the distribution of some forms to be filled by the camp residents, to issue relief coupons and streamline the distribution of items. We spoke to Kusum Piyaratne, the AGA of the area. Her office is situated about one km away from the sea. Yet the water had engulfed most of her office and the water line remains just above her head while seated. Initially, there were 41 camps in this AGA division. It has now been reduced to 28. Five schools are still being used as camp centres. "We are now encouraging people to leave camps by providing some basic facilities such as tents, kitchen utensils and water tanks on a sharing basis," she said. "We have identified 200 acres of land at three different locations in this area to build new houses. These lands will be blocked out in 10 perch blocks shortly. There are 10,514 displaced families in this AGA division. "We need 2,100 houses immediately. In Paraliya and Telwatte, all the houses have been washed away and everything has been destroyed," she said adding that there should be a proper housing construction plan. Girish Kumar of the Indian Army said their main aim is to provide toilets, community kitchens, bathing facilities, plastic tanks and electricity to the villagers so that they will be able to restart a normal life immediately. "We have just begun some work in several camps and have identified other locations for this purpose," he said. AGA Piyaratne said many donors have shown interest in building houses but they should follow a formal system, announced by the Government. As far as the social issues in the camps are concerned, she said at the beginning there was a fear of health hazards. "There were three cases of rape and selling illicit drugs like ganja. But the cases were reported to police and security has been tightened up; since then such problems no longer exist," she said. As a precautionary measure, the authorities have taken action to separate men from women and children. This has helped minimise social issues, Piyaratne said. Piyaratne together with officials and social workers have also taken steps to provide medical, counselling and other services in all the camps in her area. Although people are provided with everything, to the best of their ability, trauma and fear still remain in their hearts. Many have lost their loved ones. Although the Government has announced a compensation scheme for lost lives, none of the relatives of the deceased have come forward to collect this money as yet. This clearly shows the mental trauma they are undergoing at the moment, Piyaratne said. |
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