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| Sunday, 30 January 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Life after tsunami
The coastal belt of Vadamarachchi East was devastated by the killer waves. A nearly 8 mile long belt and over 1080 people have perished and nearly 1200 are missing. Sunday Observer staffer Ranga Jayasuriya visited Thalaiadi, a fishing hamlet in the LTTE controlled Vadamarachchi East, obliterated by the massive sea waves to see how the survivors cope with life after tsunami Displacement was part of the life in Thalaiadi, in Vadamarachchi East. People languished for the greater part of their lives in relief camps after this coastal village became a frontline in the fighting between the Security Forces and the LTTE. People fled to Jaffna and the Vanni as intense fighting flared up during the LTTE's ceaseless wave 3, which overran the Elephant Pass military garrison. Thalaiadi fell into the hands of Tigers when the security forces pulled back to Nagar Kovil. It was only after the Ceasefire that the Tigers gave the green light to the resettlement in Thaladi, which lies just six km from Nagar Kovil forward defense lines separating Government and LTTE controlled areas. Since then people were rebuilding their war-battered lives as land prices sky rocketed in this sandy coastal village overlooking the picturesque Thalaiadi lagoon. Some 100 families out of the original population of 250 had returned home and many more were moving in. On the sunny morning of December 26, Rev. Father Peter Prakasan was celebrating the opening of his new house with his fellow villagers, when tsunami struck his village and Vadamarachchi East. As a wall of blackish water was ravaging towards the land, on its way throwing a bulldozer high on to a Palmyra tree, a surprised invitee of Father Peter's ceremony cried in astonishment. "Hey some kid is flying a roller". Next minute, almost the entire lot of party-goers were swallowed by the ravaging sea waves. A month since then, local relief officials say 1080 persons are dead and nearly 1200 are missing in the LTTE controlled areas of the Vadamarachchi East. Intense fighting and aerial bombing once reduced Thalaiadi into rubble. The village is conspicuous for 10 feet deep huge holes on the ground created by aerial bombing by MIG Fighter Jets. Despite destruction by war, Thalaiadi , however, had a dramatic comeback. The "no war" situation in the aftermath of the ceasefire helped returnees to rebuild lives. Those who resided in Thalaiadi were indeed the relatively affluent and their well-designed houses were lined up overlooking the sea. It took only three minutes for Thalaiadi to be pushed back into its wretched status. With its Palmyra lined beach, Thalaiadi could have been described as Jaffna peninsula's equivalent to Hikkaduwa. Now, its wreckage resembles Seenigama, where the villages were reduced to rubble. Sidambaram Pillai Pushparasa had been fleeing the war for the greater part of his life, till he moved to Thalaiadi after the ceasefire. He invested all his savings to build his new house. He lost everything on December 26. Walking on the debris strewn around, Pushparasa shows me the destruction wrecked on his village. Despite his misery, he is surprised to see that furniture, he once used has been washed away nearly half a mile from his house. When a huge wave of blackish water over thirty feet high was battering through beachfront houses, Pushparasa and his wife grabbing their two kids ran towards high ground, what villagers described as the army bunt. He and his family survived, but most of his fellow villagers were caught in the massive waves. The dead count is not over, even as Pushparasa and members of his extended family commemorated the victims on the 31st day of their death. John Lorad Alvin Dias lost both his children to tsunami. His wife Rubana had further distress. She lost her mother, grandmother and a young brother and sister. Rubana's only surviving brother, Vernu, was trapped in a fishing net washed away with sea waves, when he tried to outrun the approaching sea water, clutching his three year old baby sister. By miracle, he escaped with the baby girl with only a few bruises. Vernu (17) whose father, a fisherman was killed in a Navy firing in the sea during the war has now turned to his eldest sister Rubana. Family bond has come to full force in the face of the monumental human disaster. After tsunami swallowed all his property, Pushparasa turned to his extended family. Now he lives at a house of a relative in Pallai alone with 63 other members of the extended family. Twenty three members of this extended family had been swallowed up by the sea waves. And those who did not have such privilege moved to welfare centres. According to Coordinating Officer of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation 2407 families (9233 members) have now been housed at seven welfare centres in the LTTE controlled areas in the Vadamarachchi East. All you can hear at the welfare centre run from the Marathankerny Government School is tales of personal anguish and trauma, coupled with a sense of guilt for being alive while the rest of the family were washed away. Young Balasubramaniam Jegadeesh saw his mother and sister being swallowed by massive sea waves. Young woman Susila still mourns over her missing two children. An elderly man, Shivamalai Pedurupillai is haunted by the death of his two children. One gentleman from Vaththarayan North, Lingam is haunted by memories of his entire family - six members, who perished in the sea waves. The young Medical Officer treating the displaced, K.Shiva Latha is worried that personal trauma could lead the survivors to devastating mental disorders. A group of psychiatrists and counsellors led by Prof. Daya Somasundaram visit camps to provide mental counselling to the traumatised. Ms. Shiva Latha who is a final year student at a medical training institution in Kilinochchi works 18 hours a day to treat over 620 families at the Maradhankerny welfare centre. She fears the risk of diarrhoea, cholera and respiratory diseases breaking out, unless the level of sanitation in the camp is improved. As schools are to be opened soon, other issues have come up. A TRO official coordinating the relief work in the LTTE controlled areas in the Vadamarachchi East said nearly 1700 families, currently living in schools will be relocated in cadjan roofed huts in an alternate site within a month. TRO admits that the government assists them in the form of dry rations and the daily allowance of 45 rupees per person or 30 rupees per child under age 12 , but complains that assistance is too little compared to the aid load the South is receiving. Most people whose family members have been lost to tsunami have not yet received the Rs.10,000 compensation granted by the Government. The TRO Official said registers of deceased had been sent to the Government Agent, who has not yet released money for compensation. There is however, a shadowy hand of the LTTE in the entire relief process. For the LTTE this is more a matter of control and understandably the Tigers and the TRO, are reluctant to appreciate the government's role in the relief work. Pushparasa questions who will take the responsibility to rebuild their lives. "People have lost all their savings. We were only getting established for a new life when we lost everything to tsunami. We can't rebuild houses alone". "First we lost everything to war. Now to tsunami. People are loosing the will to live". Pointing out that the government promised to rebuild houses for tsunami victims, Pushparasa hopes that the government will not discriminate those living in the LTTE held areas. There are other problems. The LTTE have also announced a buffer zone of 200 meters from the coastal belt. Pushparasa questions where those who earlier lived in this land would go and who will pay for the value of this prime beach front land. There are other problems also. Like the rest of the villagers, Pushparasa's uncle Christy Anton, known as the strongest fisherman in the village lost his entire livelihood. Christy Anton had invested heavily on new equipment with the hope of a better income at the coming "prawns season". Now, everything is gone with the massive sea waves along with his two children. Having been left alone, he now helplessly stares at the sea sitting on the floor of his damaged house. Are people like Christy Anton and Pushparasa destined to live the rest of their lives in this wretched situation? Can the parties competing to have control over the lives of these people reconcile to push forward a genuine program to rebuild the lives devastated by the killer waves? What thousands who now languish in relief camps are demanding for concrete measures to rebuild their lives and not mere relief assistance provided in a set up to enhance control over their lives. |
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