Sri Lankan tsunami victims speak out

by wsws (reposted)

Sat, Dec 30, 2006 10:24AM

On the eve of the second anniversary of the 2004 Asian tsunami disaster, a WSWS reporting team visited Matara to meet tsunami survivors. Matara, one of the worst hit areas, is a coastal town, 160 kilometres south of Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital.

In the Matara district, 82,067 people from 20,675 families were affected by the tsunami. According to official reports, the death toll was 1,321, with 6,652 injured and 601 missing. Of the 9,491 people displaced, 3,086 were put in 22 camps, while 6,405 lived with host families, mainly relatives and friends. A total of 2,233 houses were destroyed and 6,075 partially damaged.

The Rassandeniya Tsunami Housing Project, five kilometres from Matara town, is one of the schemes for victims. There are 30 houses in the scheme, built on sloping coconut land. Most residents came from a fishing community in Matara fort. When WSWS correspondents arrived, people were preparing to commemorate the deaths of their loved ones.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/dec2006/sri2-d30.shtml

§Two years after the Asian tsunami: Sri Lankan survivors face civil war and squalor

by wsws (reposted)

Sat, Dec 30, 2006 10:25AM

It is two years since the Asian tsunami devastated large swathes of coastline in 14 countries, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. At least 230,000 people died and 1.7 million were left homeless after the huge waves swept away tens of thousands of homes, schools and hospitals. The poor were the hardest hit, losing their homes, family members, scanty possessions and livelihoods.

After Indonesia, Sri Lanka was the second worst affected country. More than 35,000 people were killed, around 120,000 houses destroyed and 516,150 people displaced. Two years later, many are still living in squalid temporary accommodation, struggling to survive from day to day with little or no government assistance.

In an official message this week, President Mahinda Rajapakse piously called for “unity among the diverse community in order to face the challenges and build a safer nation”. His government has proclaimed December 26—the day the tsunami struck—as Sri Lanka’s “National Safety Day”.

Rajapakse’s hypocrisy is breathtaking. In the first year after the tsunami, as prime minister, he presided over the government’s totally inadequate relief operations. Attempts to establish joint relief operations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were stymied by the opposition of Sinhala chauvinist groups such as the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/dec2006/sri1-d30.shtml

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