TSUNAMI VICTIMS STILL WAIT FOR AID

Supplies to stricken Sri Lankans are blocked by bungling and corruption

Jason Burke, The Observer, 02/13/05

 

Thousands of tsunami victims in Sri Lanka are still without aid, despite
the biggest global humanitarian effort ever launched following a natural
disaster. Tens of thousands more are receiving patchy assistance, because
of government bureaucracy and corruption, poor co-ordination between aid
agencies and inappropriate, rather than insufficient, supplies sent from
the West.
Nearly seven weeks after the tidal wave that destroyed homes, livelihoods
and killed more than 30,000 in the ! south Asian state, The Observer found
people who had yet to receive help just 15 miles south of Colombo, the Sri
Lankan capital. Sirimal Rohita, a carpenter whose house and workshop was
destroyed, was one of these.

'No one has come to find out what we need,' Rohita said. Pointing to the
temple where he is living with his family, he added: 'We have shelter but
nothing else. If we are given some equipment and somewhere to work we can
start to rebuild our lives.'

Though authorities insist such cases are rare, in the city of Galle
harassed administrators admitted to The Observer that only a quarter of
those eligible for the Rs15,000 (£80) compensation for the death of a
relative had received it. Some payments were held up by bureaucracy - a
death certificate is essential for a claim but difficult to obtain. Other
delays were caused by a lack of officials.

'There are only six or seven officers trying to run help for 125,000 peop!
le
in my district,' said W Weerakoon, additional secretary in Galle. Latest
statistics from Galle district show that just 15,000 of the 26,000 people
owed a monthly post-tsunami hardship payment of Rs5,000 (£28) had been
paid, and only two-thirds of the 25,000 households promised cooking
utensils had got them. In many other areas it is worse.

There are fears that some of the aid money is being diverted by corrupt
officials. In Balapitiya, north of Galle, two officials have been suspended
over accusations of aid misuse. Others are being investigated for demanding
bribes for death certificates. Last week's newspapers were full of a
scandal involving a bank and relief cash.

Millions of pounds have flown into Sri Lankan government coffers to fund
the effort. Aid agencies stress that after early chaos, co-ordination has
improved and surveys of needs carried out. In the north-east, some camps
are being run by the Tamil Tigers, the go! vernment and international NGOs
with an unprecedented degree of co-operation, despite political strains.
Tented camps have sprung up all along the coast, supplied by Western
charities. Earthmoving equipment has also speeded the clear-up.

'Most of the infrastructure - transport, telecoms, water, power - is now
back to normal,' said Weerakoon. The World Food Programme and the Sri
Lankan government are distributing rations in most camps, he said.

But a six-hour drive south of Colombo revealed pockets of dire need, with
hundreds of people packed into single temples, relying on intermittent
hand-outs. Few houses have been rebuilt with thousands awaiting relocation
by the government.