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Sunday, Jan 16, 2005

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International

A second catastrophic loss for them

MULLAITHIVU (SRI LANKA), JAN. 15. Sellathuray, 52, a fisherman, fled when government troops seized this coastal town from ethnic Tamil rebels in 1990. He returned seven years later and rebuilt his home. He lost it a second time in the tsunami. This time, his wife died.

On Friday, the fisherman lay, sick with fever, on the floor of a school near Mullaithivu that was turned into a camp for refugees who lost family members and belongings in the December 26 tsunami, which devastated vast stretches of the Sri Lankan coast, killing about 31,000 people.

A towel draped over his head, Mr. Sellathuray was so ill that he spoke very little, just a few words at a time. He said his three children were in a hospital, also with fever.

Many people in predominantly Tamil areas in coastal stretches in the north and east of the country are enduring catastrophic loss for a second time. They lived through years of war between the Sinhalese-majority government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, until a ceasefire in 2002."The destruction is double here compared to the rest of the country," said Maran Rajadurai of the planning and development secretariat of the LTTE.

Problems compounded

The scenes of tsunami devastation in Mullaithivu, on the northeast coast, are similar along the southern coast, home to dozens of fishing villages and most of Sri Lanka's beach tourism. But the high cost of war, and the resulting neglect of infrastructure, compound problems in areas held by the Tamil Tigers.

In the now abandoned town of Mullaithivu, some of the few remaining buildings, including the post office, are pockmarked and pitted by bullets from old firefights. Rebel-held areas have little or no electricity, though large generators supply a few hours' worth of power at night in Kilinochchi, an inland town that serves as a political headquarters.

Roads with potholes slow down traffic, and there is little sign of large-scale construction or development, even though the Government has relaxed some restrictions on trade with rebel-held territory since the ceasefire. The Government has tried to prevent the sale of batteries and remote control devices for televisions, fearing they could be used by the Tamil Tigers to make bombs.

Slow to help

Mr. Rajadurai complained that the Government was slow to help Tamil-held areas when the tsunami struck, eventually providing aid through the World Food Programme, as well as funds for cremations of victims of the disaster. The Sri Lankan Red Cross also has a presence near Mullaithivu, and local authorities are receiving aid from UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) and other foreign agencies, as well as Tamils living abroad.

"We lacked the support of the Government," Mr. Rajadurai said. "Instead of waiting to get relief from them, it was better to organise ourselves and see what we could do."

The number of people who lost their homes in the Mullaithivu area, where thousands died, has dwindled from 24,400 to about 11,000, and the rebel-run Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation is providing meals and other assistance.

The Tamil Tigers operate a military-style administration and command obedience from civilians under their control, factors that contributed to an orderly handling of the crisis. Witnesses said rebel cadres set about recovering bodies and organising camps for survivors soon after the tsunami.

But their lack of resources of the type available to the Government is a major weakness. On Friday, a bulldozer, truck and other vehicles of the mine clearing organisation, The Halo Trust, cleared rubble in Mullaithivu.

Bringing rivals together?

There is little concrete sign that the disaster that struck Tamils and Sinhalese alike has brought the two adversaries together at a time of national crisis, though damage to military resources on both sides may have diminished war preparedness.

Optimists talk of reconciliation and possible movement toward a permanent peace.

— AP

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