The Hindu : International : Tsunami: scars still remain in Sri Lanka

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 27, 2005

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Tsunami: scars still remain in Sri Lanka

By V.S. Sambandan

GALLE, MARCH 26. Sri Lanka's tsunami wreckage that dotted the coastline three months ago has largely been cleared. The scars, however, continue to remain and are spread across the tent-cities that have lined up along the shattered coastline.

The Sri Lankan spirit for survival is evident across the affected district, with people going about their daily chores. A crowded graffiti board outside a Buddhist temple is a written testimony to the emotions that are at play. ``Nothing is superior to nature,'' read one writing. ``Why did the sea get angry with us,'' asked another note.

The immediate worry, however, is more material. ``Monsoon is round the corner and we are worried what will happen to the people living here,'' Tushara Gunasekera, a volunteer at a relief camp on the outskirts of Galle, told The Hindu this evening. ``It is very hot inside the tent,'' says K. Sirisena, recalling his first experience of living in a tent-city. Sixtytwo families live in as many tents facing the sea — and their wrecked houses — just a few metres away.

Residents in this area, as well as a couple of others in the Galle district, say they had received the Government's relief of Rs. 5,000 and dry rations. Expectations, however, continue to remain unmet.

Permanent shelter is a major cause for concern in Galle and other areas devastated by the tsunami. ``They were residents in a Government housing scheme. They want at least a clear indication that permanent housing will be provided. They do not know if the Government has even identified land to build houses,'' Mr. Gunasekera said. ``The village officer for the area came and visited them, but they are not convinced.''

Mixed emotions

Further south, at Unawatuna, a popular tourist centre, Sunil Silva, a resort manager, shares mixed emotions. ``This was a major punishment for our people. After the tsunami, there is great cooperation between the people. We do not want to see any differences — religious or ethnic — but our leaders are worried about only their political futures. It appears very difficult for them to get a common agenda,'' he said, referring to the bitterly-divided Sri Lankan polity.

``The people,'' he reiterates, ``have got Governmental relief. But what they want to see is a common effort.''

Special prayers were held to mark three months of the island's worst tragedy. Across the affected coastline, oil lamps were lit this evening to remember the victims. Clergy and the commoner gathered at the site where a train was washed away on the outskirts of Hikkaduwa to remember and pray for the dead.

Business hit

For the over 50 hotels and guesthouses that dot the southern coast, business has been bad since the tsunami. ``Now it is just relief workers. We have lost all the chartered tourists,'' Mr. Silva said. He hopes that with concerted effort, the tourist, who is the economy's main sustenance, will be back ``before the next European winter season.''

Significantly, there have been no major reports of starvation or disease. ``We are spending nearly Rs. 35 lakhs for this meal, which will benefit 10,000 people,'' says a volunteer overseeing a mass-feeding event to mark the third month of the tsunami.

Braving the hot sun, Yanuma Guruge awaits her turn to enter the tent with her nine-year-old daughter. An insurance agent, she says she lost all her documents in the tsunami and now lives as a paying guest in the hinterland. She welcomes the Government's plan to impose a 100-metre buffer zone. ``It should actually be 250 metres,'' she feels. Her priority also is some form of permanent housing before the monsoon sets in.

The affected, but optimistic, people continue to nurse hope. A scrawled note on the graffiti board outside the Buddhist temple sums up the current mood: ``If you lend us a hand, we will stand.''

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