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Field Report:

First batch of SARID-funded relief goods reaches Sri Lankan tsunami survivors on Sri Lanka's southeast coast.

Vinod Moonesinghe, Colombo, Sri Lanka, January 9, 2005

The SARID Tsunami Relief team had decided to take the provisions obtained through SARID relief donations to Pothuvil, one of the smaller, hardest hit areas of the worst affected Amparai district on the east coast of Sri Lanka (see FIELD REPORT, January 7, 2005 for details of goods)

The Road to Pothuvil

We set off for Pothuvil at 6 am on 8 th January. Since Pothuvil lies on the East Coast, we had to skirt the high mountains of Central Sri Lanka to reach the area. Our route lay through Ratnapura and Balangoda (where we got some extra supplies which we had failed to get in Colombo) Haldummulla (about which a Sinhalese carter's poem says "Seeing the mountain of Haputale, fear sets in"), Moneragala and Lahugala.

The Lahugala area was still flooded, although the road itself was clear of the water. A herd of elephants was grazing in the flooded area near the entrance to the Lahugala Park, causing us considerable trepidation: we had been advised at Moneragala not to come through the area after dark, as elephants habitually roamed across the road.

What was remarkable about the drive was that we saw very few vehicles carrying supplies. This was very unlike the drive south where there so many.

Pothuvil

Pothuvil town did not have many vehicles in it, either. There were three ICRC four-wheel-drive vehicles parked in the town centre, near two-storey buildings. The refugee camps were very visible.

We got onto the Arugam Bay Road, where the Tsunami Salvation Centre set up by the District Fisheries Solidarity (DIFSO) Organisation is situated. The TSC was basically two rooms on the roadside, one with a desk and two chairs, the other with dry rations. There we met the DIFSO organisers:

Chairperson – Subaideen, Co-ordinator – Jabbar, Secretary – Nusrath Begum, Administrative Officer – AG Iqbal, North-East Coordinator – Jesudason

We unloaded the goods we had braught and the DIFSO people sorted them into packs for distribution.

Tsunami Damage

Meanwhile, we went to have a look at the damage at Jalaldeen Square. The Divisional Secretary's office and several other Government offices, including the Meteorological Department Pothuvil office, have been severely damaged, although the tower holding the anemometer (for wind measurement) was intact.

Most of the houses in the township were completely destroyed. However, some of the more substantially-constructed houses (apparently built with money repatriated from workers in the Mid-East) had walls and even roofs still intact.

Interestingly, the buildings of the Madrasa, the Arabic College, were completely undamaged, even though houses and schools inland of these buildings were demolished. Half the road here had been washed away, but the signboard for the Madrasa was intact. In the lagoon inland from Jalaldeen Square, two fibre-glass boats floated, upside down, having been washed in from the beach.

Several fibre-glass boats were lodged in between buildings, with gaping holes in them. Some houses were standing, but the foundations had been undermined by the sea. A toilet, with walls apparently stronger than the foundations, lay on its side.

Food, Medicines, Water and Latrines in Short Supply

Iqbal told us that medicine is in short supply in the refugee camps, there is insufficient water to go around and not enough lavatories. Skin diseases, caused by polluted water, are rife as there is a shortage of the anti-fungal creams used to cure them. Many people are leaving the refugee camps for fear of disease - they camp out in the ruins of their homes. We saw about 50 of these families, mostly under canvas sheets donated by the UNHCR.

There is a grave shortage of food. I spoke to one woman, who showed me the small plate of rice she was getting ready to cook for her entire family. Many families have just one meal a day. Food supplies are not getting through to the people who need it. Soon after we arrived, news got around that some supplies had come in, and people started gathering outside the Tsunami Salvation Centre.

Bodies were still being found. While we were there we came upon a burial party returning from its gruesome task.

DIFSO and other groups have been working hard to clean out the wells in the area.

A European with a water pump was on hand, as well as a group of local volunteers with another. However, there are not enough water pumps, so these wells must often be emptied by hand, using buckets.

One of the two school buildings was standing. The other was completely demolished, while the water tower lay on its side. Outside I came upon a lot of textbooks, spread all over the sand, soaking wet.

Grateful Recipients

We returned to the TSC and took part in distributing the SARID relief goods we had brought. The buckets we supplied proved to be useful containers! The recipients were extremely happy to get the goods, having been without for so long.

Rehabilitation

DIFSO estimates that about US$ 4,000 will be required to rehabilitate each family. This does not take into account the cost of proper housing. The fisher folk must be relocated away from the beach, to where they will be safe from future Tsunamis and hurricanes; to where they will not be tormented by sand flies or see their metal goods corrode due to the salt sea air; but where they have easy access to the sea. Such housing will cost about US$ 6,000 per unit. The people said they would be happy to live in apartment blocks.