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| Sunday, 2 January 2005 |
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Futuristic revelations by PAUL MICHAUD, Paris, Famed futurist and science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, a fifty-year resident of Sri Lanka, reveals that he lost some important holdings at Hikkaduwa, Kahawa and Thiranagama as a result of last Sunday's tidal waves, affirms he had described a similar phenomenon in his first book on Sri Lanka, above all requests that funds be sent to "a Sri Lanka disaster relief fund launched by an internationally operating humanitarian charity, such as Care or Oxfam," or, "alternatively, consider supporting Sarvodaya, the largest development charity in Sri Lanka, which has a 45-year track record in reaching out and helping the poorest of the poor" and "Sarvodaya has mounted a well organised, countrywide relief effort using their countrywide network of offices and volunteers who work in all parts of the country, well above ethnic and other divisions". Their website, ww.sarvodaya.lk, provides bank account details for financial donations. They also welcome contributions in kind - a list of urgently needed items is found at: http://www.sarvodaya.lk/Inside_Page/urgently%20needed.htm." And this following accusations made by a Paris-based Tamil organisation according to which relief efforts are being concentrated in Colombo on the country's Sinhalese-dominated Southwestern coast, whereas the largely Tamil Northeast part of Sri Lanka was hit at least as hard by the Dec. 26th Tsunami. Speaking of "last Sunday's devastating tidal wave," Sir Arthur notes that "I am enormously relieved that my family and household have escaped the ravages of the sea that suddenly invaded most parts of coastal Sri Lanka, leaving a trail of destruction." "Many others," he continues, "were not so fortunate. For over two million Sri Lankans and a large number of foreign tourists holidaying here, the day after Christmas turned out to be a living nightmare reminiscent of The Day After Tomorrow. My heart-felt sympathy goes out to all those who lost family members or friends. Among those who directly experienced the waves, he says, "were my staff based at our diving station in Hikkaduwa, and my holiday bungalows in Kahawa and Thiranagama - all beachfront properties located in southern areas that were badly hit. Our staff members are all safe, even though some are badly shaken and relate harrowing first hand accounts of what happened. Most of our diving equipment and boats at Hikkaduwa were washed away. We still don't know the full extent of damage - it will take a while for us to take stock as accessing these areas is still difficult." "This is indeed," he affirms, "a disaster of unprecedented magnitude for Sri Lanka, which lacks the resources and capacity to cope with the aftermath. We are encouraging concerned friends to contribute to the relief efforts launched by various national and international organisations. There is, he says, much to be done in both short and long-terms for Sri Lanka "to raise its head from this blow from the seas. Among other things, the country needs to improve its technical and communications facilities so that effective early warnings can help minimise losses in future disasters." Curiously enough, he notes, "in my first book on Sri Lanka, I had written about another tidal wave reaching the Galle harbour (Chapter 8 in The Reefs of Taprobane, 1957). That happened in August 1883, following the eruption of Krakatoa in roughly the same part of the Indian Ocean. Following the Al-Qaeda attack on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, Clarke had been able to demonstrate at the time, that this attack too had been prefigured in one of his dozens of works that are best characterised as futuristic rather than science fiction as most of his works are based on scientific documentation, indeed his own discoveries, Arthur Clarke having been, as it's often forgotten, the "inventor" of the telecommunications satellite in October 1945. |
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