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Sunday, 27 March 2005    
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The right column

A question of perception

Three months have elapsed since the deadly tsunami. What has been the progress in relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction work?

Opinions differ.

They differ on various grounds. In certain cases it is a question of to which side of the political and/or ethnic divide the observer belongs. In other cases it depends on the relative knowledge or ignorance of the ground realities. In certain other instances it is a result of the ability or the inability to grasp the dimension of the catastrophe that struck us on that fateful December 26.

Or it may be some other. Since there are hundreds of permutations and combinations of these causes assessment of relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction or RRR in modern parlance could be equally numerous.

In this respect it was quite interesting to listen to Erskine Bowles, the United Nations Deputy Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery who was in the island last week. In a tˆte-…-tˆtes with the media he said that what the people and the government had done in a matter of three months for the victims is remarkable considering the enormity of the catastrophe, which he described as "the greatest natural disaster in the history of mankind".

Food, drugs and essentials were supplied and the victims accommodated in camps swiftly after the disaster. None went hungry. Temporary shelters were then provided and re-location and construction of permanent structures have already begun in certain instances, he recalled.

It is amazing that there were no outbreaks of epidemics, which one normally associates, with disasters of this nature, he added.

Erskine Bowles was not the only dignitary who assessed the positive contribution of our people and the government. Presidents Bush (Snr) and Clinton, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, World Bank Chief Wolfenstein and many others expressed the same sentiments expressed by Bowles.

Bowles, however, never said that everything had gone smooth and well. There are problems, shortcomings etc. but over all the progress was amazing, was his conclusion.

The Sceptic could not disagree with him. It is this understanding that would help one to overcome the still existing shortcomings and failures.

A substantial problem is the unavailability of land for resettlement. The search for land has to be conducted more at local and provincial level with civil society participation. On the whole the process of recovery would take about three years and it would be naive to expect quick fixes.

What is required is to harness the synergies of the people instead of feuding on political and personal agendas. In this context, it is sad to see some politicians trying to score marks over their rivals under cover of tsunami debris and tsunami damage.

- the Sceptic


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