|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 25 May 2003 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
City of gems now a pile of rubble By Anjana Gamage, Daveena Pakianathan, Neomi Kodikara and Vimukthi Fernando While Sri Lanka battled the consequence of the worst-ever floods in decades, affecting five districts Ratnapura, Galle, Matara, Hambanthota and Kalutara in the Sabaragamuwa, Southern and Western provinces, 265 people are found dead, over 500 missing and 365,690 rendered homeless. The police and armed forces carried out ceaseless rescue operations and distributed food, water and medicine to those who were marooned. The international community, especially neighbouring India was swift with aid including rescue boats and trained personnel and ten doctors. The damage to property and lives is yet to be estimated. Five days after Nature unleashed its fury on the quiet and picturesque district of Ratnapura, The Sunday Observer visited some of the worst affected areas of the district. While some areas such as Pothupitiya and Ayagama are yet 'unreachable' by road inhabitants of other areas were found struggling to begin life anew, shaken from time to time by rumours and warnings of new-found danger. Amidst the stink of rotting biomass - washedout crops, plantations, forests, bodies of household animals and humans, their faces portray gloom, hopelessness and devastation. With tear stained faces they say in dismay, "Apata ithin aapahu hitapu thatweta enna labenne nehe" - we will not be able to reach the state we were, before the floods, for "everything we earned and everything we had has been washed away in the floods." Of Ratnapura's population of 01 million, over 150,000 have been displaced due to floods and landslides. According to the Ratnapura District Secretariat 123 people have lost their lives, 58 bodies have been found, 5,726 houses totally destroyed, 6,902 houses partly damaged and 47,756 families displaced as of Thursday, May 22. Estimates of the total damage has not been prepared yet. "Never before have we seen such catastrophe. Floods are not new here, I was afraid, even to look at the waters this time" F.R.W. Tennakoon, a 70 year old resident of Maraliya said. "This is much worse than any flood before." He showed a tattered mat hanging from the top of a high voltage electricity line in front of his house. Though the waters had risen within hours to the level of submerging the 30 ft. high electricity line, it had taken over four days for it to decrease. "It was only this morning (Thursday 22) that the road was cleared." There are many small pockets of land still under water and therefore impassable. Inhabitants who live over there do not receive any relief measures. They have to travel all the way to the main road to get the food supplied by the authorities. However, by the time they reach the places of distribution, no food is left, they complain. "After the destruction I used to come daily with my family from my home to get some food to exist," said W.A.Rathnasekara from Pathagama, Karangoda. He, along with 50 others is marooned at a hillock with 11 houses. "There the water level is still high, three houses are submerged and we have to use canoes and wade in knee-deep water to reach the main road. No one cared so far to bring any relief measures for us," he expressed his concern. "Many are sick over there. But, there is no way of getting medicine. It was only the Indian army that visited our isolated place once and gave us a few canoes and some food and no help afterwards, not even from the Government authorities." In Elapatha, a landslide buried about 35 houses and their inhabitants, almost the entire village of Abeypura, Palawela on the night of the 17th. While, over 53 residents and about 15 visitors are feared dead, 30 bodies have been retrieved from the site. It is hard to find any inhabitant of the area, because they are all buried under the huge mound of earth. Priyangani (34) was standing in the debris of her house, trying to collect whatever was left from the half-broken house of her sister who is employed in the Middle-East. Her sisters two children are buried in the landslide. Priyangani, wife of a soldier serving in Jaffna lamented, "I have been left homeless as well. Our entire savings were spent to build this house." Somaratne, said that he lost his two sisters and complained that the authorities had stopped searching for bodies, as he rushed down the slope hearing that a dog had uncovered what could be a body. "There were seven members in the two families. Only two bodies were found. Now they have stopped digging. No one is there to take them to the mortuary even if we find anything." However, the authorities had been compelled to stop digging for bodies as most were bloated, unrecognisable and decomposed. It was sad to see this location being stared at by a large number of people who had flocked to see the disaster. "I came to see it because in our lifetime we have never seen a disaster and a landslide of such magnitude," said Siriyawathy who was visiting the site. However, some young males were behaving in an unruly manner, singing and dancing. Hangamuwa is another village where raging floods have devastated the livelihoods of people. Two bridges in the village had been washed away while small tea plantations, gem pits and paddy fields have suffered irreparable damage. "With this flood, Ratnapura district moved 20 years backward," laments H.Stephen, owner of small tailoring shop. "My shop is there, but all the machines are destroyed. The loss is over Rs. 50,000. Who will pay me this money?" he asked. Rupasingha Hotel, which Hangamuwa villagers visited for snacks and cool drinks is no more. "We had three refrigerators, a gas cooker and other equipment. But none of them are in working condition now," Sandyani (34) its owner, said. They had to flee for their lives, leaving even the day's earnings in the cupboards. "They are all washed away now. I was only concerned about the school books of my son, a year 7 student. But even his school is submerged." Uda Niriella is another area devastated by the floods with many a claim of life and severe damage. U.P. Piyadasa of Dias Watte, Uda Niriella, is one father who had to flee for life with his two sons aged 6 and 12, his wife and two neighbour families while their houses were turned to rubble by the force of the swirling waters. "It started in the morning. We took the usual precautions not expecting the floods to be of this magnitude. But, by 8 p.m. everything was gone. It was a miracle that our lives are saved." he said wearily, showing us a broken concrete beam that was supporting the roof. Some parts of the roof lay wedged in a nearby grove of bushes. A labourer working the mines for Rs. 100 a week, it had been a great struggle for Piyadasa to build his house. "We get paid only if we find gems. I spent every cent on this house. And now..." he paused, unable to continue. Though small, it was a well planned house, with two bedrooms, a sitting area and a kitchenette. The lavatory was separate, about 20 feet away from the main building. Miraculously escaped from the force of the waters, now, it provides the only permanent wall in Piyadasa's makeshift shelter of poles, plastic sheets and cadjan! The stories are similar, and all are of the loss of what they have earned or gathered for a lifetime, including their kith and kin, neighbours and friends. Now, their struggle is to survive. The needs are many: immediate and short term, as well as longterm rehabilitation. The most urgent seem to be shelter and lighting. Matches, candles, kerosene and firewood are as necessary and sometimes even more essential than food and clothing in some areas where houses and businesses alike were fully submerged in the floods. The Sunday Observer found that housing material, kitchen utensils and dry rations come next in terms of urgent necessities for the flood victims. The citizens of Ratnapura district receive assistance in the form of pre-cooked food, clothing, potable water and dry rations distributed by various individuals and organisations and the government. However, the Sunday Observer listened to many discrepancies in the process, mainly of local politicians who seem to be using the catastrophe to 'teach a lesson' to their opponents in the game of partisan politics. For instance, many a villager of Hangamuwa complained that a section of their village is made non-accessible to the aid workers by the Grama Niladhari and a local politician of the ruling party. There are also parties who try to make a 'business' out of the devastation collecting and selling, clothes, dry-rations and even the food and water distributed. And some have started looting valuables of the houses unattended. It was also found that the lack of disaster preparedness of the district had worsened the damage. Though a disaster management plan existed, no one had given thought to disaster preparedness, it was found by contacting various authorities and officials of the district. Aggravating the situation is the lack of interest in the public in heeding any warnings be it from the authorities concerned, the NGOs or research organisations. Another disaster has passed as many others had been in Sri Lanka. While disaster management plans forwarded by research organisations and concerned officials are shelved at relevant authorities once again, the country panicked and sought assistance and redress measures. Time and time again, in Sri Lanka it is a story of sky rocketing costs of damage and relief measures but not of disaster mitigation. It is high time that the government and the relevant authorities see the necessity of 'disaster management' and take up measures of disaster mitigation. **** The scene at the hospital: Contrary to the expectations of finding hundreds of flood victims in the Ratnapura General Hospital, the Sunday Observer found only three at the hospital. The Director of the Hospital Dr. Shantha Abeywickrama said that only 15 were brought in for treatment. He believes that the actual number of victims could be high, but that they would have been prevented from reaching the hospital due to lack of transport facilities. At the first stages of the rescue operations there had been only three boats which, according to Abeywickrema was not at all sufficient to rush victims to the hospital and to supply other necessary relief measures. We had standby hospital teams, enough resources and were prepared to tackle the situation but there was no system to bring victims into the hospital," he said. Stressing the need for an active disaster preparedness plan, he asked "Ratnapura is a vulnerable area for floods and landslides so why isn't there a Disaster Management plan?" *** What the District Secretary had to say: "Hundreds of families in the areas of Rakwana, Kalawana, Nivithigala, Palmadulla, Kahawatte and Elapatha have been evacuated fearing further landslides," said. Mrs. Malani M.Premarathne, Divisional Secretary of Ratnapura. " There are several fractures, cracks and fissures in some of the mountains. For example, there is a 200 meters long crack in Kahawatu kanda. If it had come down and blocked the Wayganga area, a massive damage would have occurred. I have informed the Prime Minister's office and the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) of the situation. The university research teams and geologists should provide their assistance in this regard. We need a national action plan to overcome this situation," she pointed out. **** What the Police had to say: While floods were devastating the district of Ratnapura, it had been the Police who had come afore for the rescue and relief operations, the Sunday Observer learned. As of May 22, the police was involved in distributing food, purified water, clothing and housing material and providing security at places where it was most needed. The entire division of 1,200 police personnel were deployed in disaster management operations, said Prasanna Nanayakkara, SSP Ratnapura. An additional force of 150 personnel had been called from Colombo, Kandy, Kurunegala, Kegalle, Bandarawela, Kuliyapitiya and Nuwara Eliya areas. "Though the police was trained on disaster management, we could not do much because there was no equipment" said Nanayakkara. "The two boats that the Kachcheri had were not maintained and could not be used", he said. However, an urgent appeal to the Minister of Defence, Thilak Marapone had brought in the immediate assistance of 3 boats and later on another 5 from the Navy and 7 from private owners in Negombo. "Within 5-6 hours we could start rescue operations. Though it was extremely dangerous, we operated the boats at night as well and managed to rescue 53 patients from Ratnapura Ayurvedic hospital" he said. According to Nanayakkara, the Police had warned residents of Panapola Kanda and Pannila Kanda of possible landslides. It was the Ratnapura Police who warned stations in Kalutara of possible flooding and arranged for the evacuation of residents in the flood plains, he said. **** * Total number of families displaced - 365,690 * District in which highest number of families displaced - 178,245 is Ratnapura. * The second highest - 92,950 is Matara. * The third - 39,674 - is from Kalutara. * Disappearances : 500 * Death toll - 265 Highest number of deaths also from Ratnapura - 128. Matara - 48 deaths and Tangalle 21 deaths. * Number of houses destroyed - 24,756. Partially damaged houses - 32,426. * Possible outbreak of diseases - diarrhoea, typhoid fever, Hepatitis and also dengue and other mosquito borne diseases. * Donations : Save the Children have granted Rs 2.5 million worth relief assistance to children. Red Cross China had made a cash donation of US $ 30,000. Japanese Embassy has donated several items worth 19.8 million Yen. UNHCR has also donated items worth US $ 225,000. India has donated 2,500 blankets. * Those who wish to provide some assistance can hand over them to: - Social Services Ministry * Total amount of money spent on providing dry rations, cooked food, and funeral expenses by the Department of Social Services - Rs. 21 million. Source: Department of Social Services. ######## Aid raining down on disaster areas Flood relief assistance as food and medical supplies and trained manpower to handle such resources are pouring into Sri Lanka from many friendly countries following the floods which hit the districts of Sabaragamuwa and South Western parts of the island leaving many thousands as refugees. Under the World Food Programme (WFP) Sri Lanka last week received food supplies sufficient to feed 100,000 flood refugees for a week, from the governments of Australia, Switzerland, Sweden and Japan. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) donated relief material valued at Rs 20 million. The United States has provided a $50,000 grant for emergency relief. The Red Cross Society will use the grant to purchase sleeping mats, bed sheets, cooking utensils, lanterns, clothing and other items lost by families following the deluge. Water purification kits will also be provided. Government of Thailand said a Thai Naval ship carrying 500 tonnes of relief supplies is expected to reach Colombo on May 31, bringing rice, bottled water, blankets, building materials, cooked and other food. Japan, has pledged Rs 9.7m in flood relief, in addition to Rs 16.6 million of emergency material given. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has appealed to Sri Lankans living overseas for assistance. ######## Possible outbreak of disease by Shanika Sriyananda The Ministry of Health has appointed a committee to provide medical assistance for flood victims and also to counter possible outbreaks of water and vector-borne diseases. Health experts warned that more lives would be lost due to the spread of diseases - diarrhoea, typhoid fever, hepatitis and also dengue and other mosquito borne diseases. Dr. Terance de Silva, Director General, Health Services, who heads the Committee said that medical facilities in hospitals in the Southern and Sabaragamuwa had been strengthened to face the disastrous situation. " Ratnapura, Hambantota, Matara, Badulla, Galle and Kalutara base hospitals have been provided with the required equipment and drugs. Casualties are also sent to the Badulla hospital since some of the areas in Ratnapura are still impassable and patients cannot reach the Ratnapura hospital", he added. The Medical Research Institute (MRI) has strengthened surveillance of water borne diseases. Meanwhile, the Medical Supply Division of the Ministry is supplying antibiotics to hospitals in flood stricken areas on a priority basis. Health Education Bureau (HEB) has already distributed materials to educate people in those areas on how to take safety measurers for water borne diseases. Dr. de Silva said that they had already requested the World Health Organisation, UNDP and the Indian High Commission to provide antibiotics, water purification tablets and injections for typhoid. He said that the health impacts would appear few weeks after the floods subsided and the Ministry was now geared to encounter outbreaks of diseases. Meanwhile, Health Ministers of India, Korea, Mianmar and Bangladesh have pledged their support to Sri Lanka to improve the health condition of the people affected by flood and also to provide expertise in disaster management strategies. A special WHO team comprising experts in disaster management will arrive to Sri Lanka to study the situation in the five flood stricken districts. Meanwhile, geological experts warn that more areas in the two provinces are still prone to land slides and request residents of those areas to temporarily relocate from those areas. H.G.S. Ariyaratne, Scientist of the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) said that Pallmadulla, Kahawatte, Niwithigala, Alapatha, Udaranwela and Kollonna were prone to landslides and that villagers should be evacuated immediately. Three NBRO research teams have already deplored to flood stricken districts and according to their findings the main cause for the floods are the non-availability of natural drainage systems in the two provinces due to ad-hoc development activities. ######## Cost of the destruction by M. R. M. Niyas, Hambantota Special Correspondent The disaster caused by the recent floods and earthslips in the Hambantota district, has been estimated to cost over Rs. 150 million. The critical situation caused by the floods and earthslips have displaced 1,812 families and destroyed 1,361 houses. 22 deaths were also reported from Walasmulla and Katuwana DS areas. In Walasmulla 21 persons from four families were buried alive owing to the landslide in the Ramale Kanda area while another person died in the Katuwana area. The refugee families from each divisional secretariat area are as follows: Weeraketiya - 300, Katuwana - 231, Walasmulla - 312, Okewela- 363, Tangalla - 325, Beliatta - 162, Angunakolapelessa - 25, Ambalantota -90, Sooriyawewa - 04. According to the Hambantota district Government Agent Chandradasa Jagoda, several acres of paddy land and 14 tanks have been destroyed owing to the flood situation in the district and hundreds of small and medium scale businesses have been demolished apart from the havoc caused to the properties of the people and the Government establishments. Adults and schoolchildren in Tangalla, Weeraketiya, Katuwana, Walasmulla, Okewela divisional secretariat areas are in desperate need of clothes and stationery, GA Jagoda said. Meanwhile, the Hambantota district additional Government Agent Buddapriya Nigamuni disclosed that a streamlined assistance programme had been carried out to facilitate the flood victims in the Hambantota district. Additional GA Nigamuni said, two lorry loads of dry rations have been sent to Hambantota by the Prime Minister's office to be distributed among the people of flood ravage areas in the district. On the instructions of the Southern Region Development Minister Ananda Kularathna, the Southern Development Authority (SDA) has provided a sum of rupees 25,000/= to transport the bodies of the landslide victims to the Matara General Hospital. Nigamuni said, Plan International has stepped into assist the flood victims by providing a sum of Rs. 3.9 million and several organisations such as Christian - Sri Lanka Organisation, Lions Club, Sri Lanka Telecom and several other organisations have also shown their willingness to grant relief to the people affected by the flood. He said, Mobile Health services units have been initiated to implement special health care facilities for the benefit of the flood victims in the district with the assistance of the MOH's in the Hambantota district. He said that he had not received any information of an outbreak of any form of diseases in the district upto now and emphasised that programs had already been initiated to educate the flood victims on better sanitation facilities and health officials in the district had been instructed to be vigilant and alert. Additional GA Buddapriya Nigamuni requested the general public, if any person who wants to assist the flood victims could contact the following telephone numbers for speedy distribution of grant relief and to reach the assistance given by them to due people. The telephone numbers are as follows: 047-20139, 047-20232, 047-20235. When contacted by the Sunday Observer Southern Region Development Minister Ananda Kularathna revealed that almost all the districts which were devastated by the recent floods come under the purview of his ministry and stated that his ministry was busy drawing plans to grant relief assistance for the affected people. Minister Kularathna said, the destruction caused by the flood will be millions of rupees. The damages caused to the property of the people cannot be estimated. He said "I have directed the health officials in the district to look into the health and sanitation problems of the flood victims and conduct regular health clinics to curb spreading of any epidemic diseases. The Minister said, the flood hit roads will be renovated immediately to restore smooth functioning of the transport services. A survey will also be conducted by the divisional secretaries to assess the devastation caused to the cultivations of the farmers in the Hambantota district and every possible steps will be taken to grant relief for the affected farmers. This is the worst flood situation I have ever seen in my life. I am thankful to the GA and other government officials, police, armed forces and other officials who took immediate action to minimise the damages and saved the lives of the affected, Minister Kularathna added. Hambantota District Secretary of Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) K. H. Premathilaka said, the SLRCS had implemented a program to supply drinking water for the flood victims using water tankers in the Walasmulla, Katuwana and Tangalla DS areas. He said that SLRCS would provide dry rations for the affected people for three months, and said that he had received 50 tents to be distributed among displaced people. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
