US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO93

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000093 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS AND CA/OCS 
STATE ALSO PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA - THAYER, FLEMING, GARVELINK 
GENEVA FOR NANCY KYLOW 
BANGKOK FOR USAID/OFDA - TOM DOLAN 
NEW DELHI FOR FAS 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2015 
TAGS: AEMR, EAID, CASC, PGOV, CE, MV, Maldives, Tsunami 
SUBJECT: TXFO01:  SRI LANKA AND MALDIVES SITREP NO. 10, 
JANUARY 12 
 
REF: COLOMBO 70 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of Mission.  1.4 (b,d) 
 
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SRI LANKA 
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1.  (U) Consular efforts:  The consular section continues to 
focus entirely on tsunami-related efforts.  The number of 
AmCits deaths in Sri Lanka still stands at eight, with one 
addition AmCit missing and presumed dead.  Consular staff 
have reduced the number of welfare and whereabouts cases to 
six AmCits unaccounted for.  (There are no AmCits unaccounted 
for in Maldives.) 
 
2.  (U) Casualty figures:  The death toll around the island 
continues to remain somewhat static.  The Government of Sri 
Lanka's (GSL) official figures are 30,882 dead, with an 
additional 6,088 missing.  Over 15,000 people remain injured. 
 Some 500 IDP camps are tending to the needs of close to 
300,000 displaced people. 
 
3.  (U) Life in Sri Lanka:  On January 11, 12,000 children in 
the affected areas returned to schools where the students 
were often met by debris-filled classrooms with desks and 
chairs in piles.  UNFAO estimates that 66 percent of Sri 
Lanka's fishing fleet was rendered inoperable by the December 
26 tsunami.  UNICEF reports that, by next week, it will 
complete a survey to identify all children who are 
unaccompanied (those whose parents are dead or missing) and 
begin efforts to locate family or other relatives. 
 
4.  (SBU) USG relief efforts:  The public affairs section is 
preparing a press release that will tally the amount and 
types of aid that the United States is providing to Sri 
Lanka.  As one facet of relief assistance, USAID hopes to 
program significant funds and begin activities in the next 
two weeks.  Given the scope of on-going relief efforts, the 
DART will remain in place for the foreseeable future.  USAID 
DART members will participate in a WFP meeting in Colombo on 
Saturday, January 15. 
 
5.  (C) The U.S. military continues to expands its program 
and work closely with the GSL, USAID, and INGOs in fully 
utilizing its resources.  The USS Duluth is currently 
operating off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, supporting 
personnel conducting engineering operations in the Galle 
area.  U.S. military officials in Galle have coordinated with 
the Governor of the Southern Province to identify priority 
areas and needs in which to employ U.S. resources.  Military 
commanders plan to leave personnel on the ground in the south 
while the Duluth transits to Sri Lanka's eastern coast so 
that helicopter assets can provide heavy lift for 
transferring tons of produce from the up-country region to 
the Ampara district, one of the country's most devastated 
regions.  On January 14, a U.S. medical advance team will 
travel to Jaffna in preparation for the January 16 arrival of 
the U.S. military medical team to provide expertise and 
support to Point Pedro Hospital in the government-controlled 
north.  (Note:  At the time the tsunami hit, only one surgeon 
was on duty at Point Pedro Hospital, tending to the thousands 
of casualties.) 
 
6.  (C) Visitors in support of U.S. assistance:  The majority 
of the members of CODEL Leach departed Sri Lanka today, 
headed to India.  The members, who spent part of January 11 
in Galle being briefed by General Panter, visiting an IDP 
camp at a Buddhist temple, and a school that had been funded 
by AID/OTI, commented that the trip had given them a much 
better understanding of the devastation and the depth of the 
needs for rehabilitation.  In the coming days, Deputy 
Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, accompanied by PACOM 
 
SIPDIS 
Commander Admiral Fargo, will tour the affected areas and the 
U.S. military relief efforts in the country. 
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MALDIVES 
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7.  (U) Relief priorities:  As the death toll remains at 82, 
with 26 still missing, the Government of the Republic of 
Maldives (GORM) is focusing on water and shelter issues for 
its citizens, as well as the cleanup of rubble on the some 53 
inhabited islands.  On January 12, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the 
Government Spokesman, told poloff that the government had 
determined some of the devastated islands would not be 
re-inhabited and was working on identifying new land areas 
for those communities.  At present, approximately four 
islands are under consideration for abandonment. 
 
8.  (U) Hard times for Maldives:  The Government Spokesman 
also told poloff that occupancy throughout Maldives' resorts 
was only 28 percent.  (In the aftermath of the tsunami, which 
damaged resort islands as well, the GORM estimated it had 
approximately 60 percent of its rooms operational.)  The 
decrease in visitors was having a ripple effect on local 
citizens, according to Shaheed.  The Maldivians who normally 
supply fish and produce to the resorts were finding a 
decreased demand -- leading to decreased income -- for their 
goods. 
 
9.  (C) U.S. assistance:  The U.S. military, in conjunction 
with British and French counterparts, has developed a 
detailed plan for assistance to Maldives.  Two U.S. military 
ships scheduled to arrive off the coast of Sri Lanka January 
12 may be re-directed to support operations -- such as water 
purification efforts -- in Maldives.  Military personnel are 
planning to depart shortly for Maldives to coordinate 
operations from Male' and supplement USAID personnel already 
on the ground. 
 
LUNSTEAD