US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO146

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 COLOMBO 000146 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO PASS TO USAID 
STATE FOR TSUNAMI TASK FORCE 1 
USAID/W FOR A/AID ANDREW NATSIOS, JBRAUSE 
DCHA/OFDA GGOTTLIEB, MMARX, RTHAYER, BDEEMER 
AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA 
TSUNAMI RESPONSE MANAGEMENT TEAM 
 
SIPDIS 
DCHA/FFP FOR LAUREN LANDIS 
DCHA BUREAU FOR ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR ROGER WINTER 
ANE DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR MARK WARD 
BANGKOK FOR OFDA SENIOR REGIONAL ADVISOR TOM DOLAN 
KATHMANDU FOR OFDA REGIONAL ADVISOR WILLIAM BERGER 
GENEVA FOR USAID KYLOH 
ROME PASS FODAG 
NSC FOR MELINE 
CDR USPACOM FOR J3/J4/POLAD 
USEU PASS USEC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, AEMR, PREL, PGOV, CE, Tsunami 
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA - EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMIS: 
USAID/DART SITREP #7 
 
REFERENCE:  A)  COLOMBO 00125 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  As of January 16, according to the Center for 
National Operations (CNO), the earthquake and tsunamis 
had killed 30,920 people in Sri Lanka.  The U.S. 
Military continues to engage in debris removal and 
clean-up activities in Galle and assist in the 
transport of relief supplies throughout Sri Lanka. 
According to the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO), 
there have been no disease outbreaks in Sri Lanka. 
The U.N. Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) 
team and CARE conducted a Rapid Environmental Impact 
Assessment (REA), partially funded by USAID, to 
determine the environmental impact of the earthquake 
and tsunamis in Sri Lanka.  End summary. 
 
 
---------------------------- 
Death Tolls 
---------------------------- 
 
2.  The CNO, which is responsible for the overall 
coordination of the relief effort in Sri Lanka, 
reports that as of January 16 at 1700 hours local 
time, the earthquake and tsunamis had killed 30,920 
people, injured 15,573 residents, displaced 431,224 
persons, completely damaged 90,241 houses, and 
partially damaged 41,960 houses.  Currently there are 
6,020 persons missing.  According to the CNO, there 
are 404 camps housing displaced persons. 
Sri Lankan officials said publicly January 17 that 
they expect the tsunami death toll to eventually 
surpass 40,000. 
 
---------------------- 
Situation in Galle 
--------------------- 
 
3.  According to the USAID/Disaster Assistance 
Response Team (DART) Logistics Officer (LO) located in 
Galle, local residents are beginning to clear drainage 
channels, but there is no coordination and work is not 
continuous.  Debris is currently being piled along the 
side of the channels and has not been removed. The 
USAID/LO reported that many locals with local 
equipment are beginning to clear private property and 
pile debris along roadways. 
 
4.  The USAID/DART LO observed water trucks delivering 
water in Galle, but there is need for increased water 
distribution in internally displaced person (IDP) 
camps.  The USAID/DART LO reported that the Austrian 
Military will produce water and distribute it in the 
Ambalangoda region, and the U.S. military will 
distribute water produced by the Austrian Military in 
the Hikkaduwa region, north of Galle.  The water 
distribution to IDP centers in Hikkaduwa will start on 
January 17.  [Note:  The USAID/DART LO stated that the 
Galle Water Authority is aware that this is only a 
temporary solution, and it must develop a long-term 
plan prior to the departure of the U.S. and Austrian 
Militaries.  End Note.] 
 
5.  The U.S. Military is still clearing rubble in 25 
schools and plans to complete this clean-up by January 
25, the first day schools will reopen.  The U.S. 
Military will start clean-up on a road project on 
January 18. 
 
6.  The USAID/DART LO met with USAID/Office of U.S. 
Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) implementing 
partner Christian Children's Fund (CCF) who will be 
building transitional shelters in Galle.  The shelters 
will be supplied to 3,000 families throughout Galle 
and Matara districts.  As of January 14, there are 69 
IDP camps in Galle. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Coordination with the U.S. Military 
------------------------------------ 
 
7.  The U.S. Military continues to transport produce 
(see Ref A) for the National Agrobusiness Council 
throughout Sri Lanka.  The U.S. Military has now 
started flights to transport this produce to 
Trincomalee in northeastern Sri Lanka and Jaffna in 
northern Sri Lanka, in addition to Ampara in eastern 
Sri Lanka.  Approximately 50 metric tons (MT) of 
produce will be delivered to Trincomalee, Jaffna, and 
Batticaloa during the course of the next week. 
According to the USAID/DART, the produce has been 
received positively by IDPs as it supplements the 
rice, dhal, and oil rations distributed by the 
Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and provides IDPs with 
micronutrients. 
 
8.  The U.S. Military continues to transport relief 
supplies for the GOSL and non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs).  For the next week, the U.S. 
Military is flying 16 MT of food daily for the GOSL to 
IDP camps around Sri Lankan Air Force bases. 
 
9.  A detachment of 26 medical personnel were deployed 
to Jaffna Teaching Hospital and Point Pedro Hospital 
in northern Sri Lanka on January 16 to assist with 
clinical operations.  On January 17, an additional 
flight arrived in Sri Lanka with a WHO emergency 
health kit, which includes medical supplies to support 
10,000 beneficiaries for a 3-month period.   This 
health kit will be transported to Point Pedro 
Hospital.  There is also a small medical detachment in 
Galle supporting U.S. forces. 
 
10.  On January 17, the USAID/DART LO posted to the 
airport coordinated the receipt and transfer of 1,000 
rolls of plastic sheeting and 10,000 water containers 
to GOAL and Community Habitat Finance (CHF).  The 
relief supplies were equally divided between the two 
NGOs.  The plastic sheeting will be used by GOAL on 
the proposed U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR) temporary housing shelter program in 
Hambantota and Matara districts in southern Sri Lanka 
and Ampara District in southeastern Sri Lanka.  The 
plastic sheeting provided to CHF will be brought to 
Galle for storage prior to the building of temporary 
shelters throughout the Southern Province. 
 
11.  As of January 17, there are 1,594 U.S. Military 
personnel operating in Sri Lanka.  Between January 4 
and January 15, the U.S. military completed 58 flights 
carrying relief supplies within Sri Lanka. 
 
----------------- 
Health 
----------------- 
 
12.  According to WHO, as of January 16 there have 
been no disease outbreaks reported in Sri Lanka. 
Approximately 10 days ago an entire camp in Galle was 
vaccinated in response to 1 confirmed case of measles. 
WHO epidemiologists in Galle state that with 
increasing numbers of people leaving camps, it will 
become more difficult to sustain disease surveillance 
in a more dispersed population.  At a January 17 CNO 
meeting, a Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) 
representative advised that there is no threat of 
communicable diseases from mass graves. 
 
---------------------- 
Water and Sanitation 
---------------------- 
 
13.  On January 14, the USAID/DART Water and 
Sanitation Officer (WSO) attended a NGO coordination 
meeting at the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF).  The 
USAID/DART WSO reported that progress is being made on 
the development of hygiene education materials. 
UNICEF currently has representatives working in the 
nine affected districts in Sri Lanka, and NGO 
coordination meetings are being held in these 
districts at least once a week.  The USAID/DART WSO 
reported that there is limited information on water 
and sanitation issues originating at the district 
level.  The resources available for water testing, 
number of wells cleaned, and number of latrines 
constructed are not well documented.  The USAID/DART 
WSO will continue to encourage NGO partners to provide 
assessments and reports to UNICEF and the Ministry of 
Urban Development and Water Supply. 
 
-------------------- 
Food 
-------------------- 
 
14.  On January 15, the U.S. Ambassador, USAID/Colombo 
Mission Director, and members of the USAID/DART met 
with the Executive Director of the U.N. World Food 
Program (WFP).  To date, WFP has dispatched enough 
food in Sri Lanka to feed 750,000 people and plans to 
continue food distributions through June. 
Approximately 25 percent of WFP funding for Sri Lanka 
will be used to finance logistical operations.  WFP 
currently has three field offices in Sri Lanka in 
Kilinochichi (north), Vavuniya (north), and Batticaloa 
(east).  WFP is also planning to establish an 
additional five field offices in Ampara (southeast), 
Galle (south), Mullaitivu and Jaffna districts 
(north), and Trincomalee (east).  To respond to the 
emergency, WFP has also increased the number of staff 
in Sri Lanka and currently has 109 people working on 
the island. 
 
------------------- 
Livelihoods 
-------------------- 
 
15.  According to the U.N., the tsunami destroyed more 
than 80 percent of Sri Lanka's fishing fleet, and 
close to 18,500 fishing vessels were lost or damaged. 
The tsunami killed more than 7,500 fishermen, and 
5,600 fishermen are still missing.  The tsunami also 
displaced an additional 90,000 fishermen.  The 
USAID/DART has programmed USD 10,000,000 for cash-for- 
work programs in affected areas to allow beneficiaries 
to meet their own prioritized needs and to create 
purchasing power in their communities. 
 
16.  The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 
has contributed USD 9 million to resurrect the fishing 
and agricultural sectors in Sri Lanka.  FAO is 
currently conducting an assessment of the damage and 
reported that 66 percent of the fishery industry was 
affected by the disaster.  The FAO also reported that 
the tsunami damaged 10 out of 12 fishery harbors, and 
there is an urgent need to repair the damaged ports. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment 
---------------------------------------- 
 
17.  In the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunamis, 
the UNDAC team initiated a rapid assessment of 
environmental conditions to provide information for 
the planning and management of relief and recovery 
operations.  This assessment was conducted by UNDAC, 
CARE, and partially funded by USAID.  The assessment 
began with field observations and consultations by an 
UNDAC member and was followed by a formal REA which 
started on January 7 and is currently being completed. 
 
18.  The key findings of the assessment include the 
following: 
 
a)the tsunami did not result in air or water 
pollution which could not be addressed by 
emergency operations. 
b)the disposal of debris and waste from the 
tsunamis is not taking place in an 
 
SIPDIS 
environmentally friendly manner and will 
l 
probably result in future environmental 
problems. 
c)sanitation is a major challenge in locations 
where tsunami victims are currently lodged and 
in proposed temporary camps.  A key cause of 
this problem is the high water table in coastal 
areas, which reduced the effectiveness of 
latrines. 
 
19.  The key initial recommendations include: 
 
a)implement a program to manage the collection and 
disposal of tsunami-caused debris and waste 
materials in an environmentally friendly manner, 
based on recycling and composting and a labor 
intensive public works approach (this has been 
piloted in Galle by the local government). 
b)increase the means available to address the 
sanitation problems arising from the use of 
latrines in areas with high water tables. 
c)increase the flow of information to tsunami 
survivors to allow them to make well-informed 
decisions on their own recovery actions and to 
reduce unnecessary exploitation of natural 
resources. 
 
 
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USAID/DART Staffing 
--------------------- 
--- 
 
20.  As of January 17, there are 12 members of the 
USAID/DART in Sri Lanka.  Of the 12 USAID/DART 
members, one individual is in Galle and another team 
member is in Male, Maldives. 
LUNSTEAD