US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO189

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 COLOMBO 000189 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE ALSO PASS TO USAID 
STATE FOR TSUNAMI TASK FORCE 1 
USAID/W FOR A/AID ANDREW NATSIOS, JBRAUSE 
DCHA/OFDA KISAACS, 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 #10 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  As of January 24, according to the Center for National 
Operations (CNO), the earthquake and tsunamis had killed 
30,957 people.  The U.S. Military is starting to move 
equipment and personnel from Galle to Colombo.  The Galle 
local government and the Galle Water Board are taking over 
responsibility for water distributions from the U.S. and 
Austrian militaries.  The USAID/Disaster Assistance Response 
Team (DART) has observed an improvement in the situation in 
Ampara District with many relief and recovery activities and 
visible progress to address community needs taking place. 
As of January 21, USAID/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster 
Assistance (OFDA) implementing partner GOAL's programs in 
Ampara District have assisted 52,096 beneficiaries. 
USAID/OFDA implementing partners GOAL and Catholic Relief 
Services (CRS) have both created prototype shelters to be 
used in USAID/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance's 
(OFDA) transitional housing program.   End summary. 
 
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Death Tolls 
---------------------------- 
 
2.  The CNO, which is responsible for the overall 
coordination of the relief effort in Sri Lanka, reports that 
as of January 24 at 1600 hours local time, the earthquake 
and tsunamis had killed 30,957 people, injured 15,196 
residents, displaced 396,170 persons, completely damaged 
78,407 houses, and partially damaged 41,097 houses. 
Currently there are 5,644 persons missing.  According to the 
CNO, there are 321 camps housing displaced persons. 
 
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Situation in Galle 
--------------------- 
 
3.  The USAID/DART Logistics Officer (LO) located in Galle 
stated that as of January 24, the U.S. Military is starting 
to move equipment and personnel from Galle to Colombo.  The 
USAID/DART LO reported that the Galle local government and 
the Galle Water Board will gradually take over 
responsibility for water distributions from the U.S. and 
Austrian Militaries starting on January 24 and will maintain 
sole responsibility for water distributions starting on 
January 28.  The U.S. Military completed debris removal at 
schools on January 24, and the U.S. Military plans to depart 
Galle for Colombo on January 28. 
 
4.  USAID's Office of Transitional Issues (OTI) is engaged 
in a USAID/OFDA-funded cash-for-work debris removal project 
north of Galle.  Between January 21 and January 23, this 
project employed an average of 600 people daily to clear and 
separate debris on private and public lands.  As of January 
21, there are 46 internally displaced person (IDP) centers 
in Galle. 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
USAID/DART Assessment in Ampara District - Aftermath of 
the Tsunami and Recovery 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
5.  On January 13, the USAID/DART visited Sainthamaruthu in 
Ampara District.  At this time, there were four camps that 
had been set up in schools to house the 900 people who were 
displaced.  Within the camps, food, fresh water, and shelter 
were being provided in sufficient quantities.  Psycho-social 
needs were being addressed by USAID/OFDA implementing 
partner Christian Children's Fund (CCF).  This included 
child-friendly spaces set aside where games and play 
sessions were used to help with the emotional recovery. 
According to the USAID/DART, at this time, very little 
visible progress had been made to address many of the 
community needs.  For example, there was no visible activity 
to clean up rubble and rubbish in the affected areas, 
community water and sanitation systems had not been 
established, the cleaning of wells had not commenced, and no 
plan was in place to address recovery work in a systematic 
manner. 
 
6.  However, on January 22, the USAID/DART revisited 
Sainthamaruthu and noted a remarkable change in the 
situation in the area.  Traveling with representatives from 
USAID/OFDA implementing partners GOAL and CRS, USAID/DART 
team members observed that the affected communities had been 
divided into focus areas and assigned to specific non- 
governmental organizations (NGOs).  In the locations covered 
by USAID/OFDA implementing partners, wells were being 
systematically cleaned, a 30,000 gallon water bladder was 
set up to provide clean water to more than 250 families 
daily, road clean up had been initiated to remove rubble and 
rubbish in areas that had been marginally affected, 
structures that were damaged and posed a hazard were knocked 
down to avoid further injury, cash-for-work teams were 
functioning to help clean up the most affected areas along 
the coast, rubbish/rubble distribution sites had been 
identified, and a transitional shelter model has been 
developed.  To address long-term rehabilitation, the 
Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and NGO representatives are 
drafting strategic plans to rebuild the beach-front in a 
manner that would offer some protection from future 
disasters. 
 
7.  One of the most innovative projects observed by the 
USAID/DART is being undertaken by GOAL and uses rubble from 
affected sites to create massive barriers that will encircle 
an area of land that includes several hundred acres that are 
not being used.  The landfill will allow for a water 
irrigation system to be put in place so that 1,000 farmers 
can grow rice for the first time.  In the past, there was 
insufficient landfill to initiate this project. 
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GOAL's Activities in Ampara District 
------------------------------------- 
 
8.  On January 22, the USAID/DART Program Officer (PO) and 
USAID/DART Information Officer (IO) visited Ampara District 
in northeastern Sri Lanka and viewed USAID/OFDA implementing 
partner GOAL's activities in the area.  As of January 21, 
GOAL's programs in Ampara District (including programs in 
the sectors of water and sanitation, emergency relief 
supplies, cash-for-work, shelter, and livelihoods) have 
benefited 52,096 people.  During this visit the USAID/DART 
observed GOAL's activities in several different sectors, 
including the following: 
 
Water and Sanitation:  GOAL has established a 30,000 liter 
water bladder in Nintavur in Ampara District that will serve 
more than 250 families daily.  The USAID/DART observed local 
residents filling buckets with water and benefiting from the 
water bladder.  GOAL is also engaged in well cleaning in 
Ampara District, and to date has cleaned 50 of 4,000 wells. 
GOAL plans to clean 1,000 wells in total.  The USAID/DART 
observed that all wells that had been cleaned were clearly 
marked with the date that they were cleaned in order to 
avoid a duplication of efforts. 
 
IDPs in Ampara District/Emergency Relief Supply 
Distributions:  GOAL has responsibility for 18 camps in the 
areas of Karativu, Sainthamaruthu, and Nintavur in Ampara 
District.  A GOAL representative stated that 70 percent of 
the population in these areas is living with host families, 
and approximately 30 percent are residing at the camps.  The 
GOAL representative noted that those IDPs living at the 
camps have lost their property and belongings and had no 
relatives with whom they could stay.  The GOAL 
representative also reported that she had not seen a 
significant influx of orphaned children.  In GOAL's three 
areas of responsibility, there are 8,000 displaced families 
or 29,795 people. 
 
The USAID/DART visited a Hindu boys' school housing IDPs in 
Nintavur, where 385 families are registered and 59 families 
or 199 residents live at the camp 24 hours a day.  GOAL is 
distributing emergency relief supplies such as cooking pots 
and pans to the IDPs at this camp.  The USAID/DART reported 
that IDPs in this camp currently cook meals in shifts, and 
the biggest need is for cooking pots and pans [Note:  The 
GOAL representative advised that there is currently a 20 day 
delay to obtain pots and pans.  The USAID/DART PO is 
following up on this issue in order to attempt to fulfill 
this demand for pots and pans.  End Note.]  GOAL has also 
distributed 1,000 USAID/OFDA hygiene kits in the camp.  The 
GOAL representative stated that starting on January 24, GOAL 
will pay 375 rupees per week to every person who was 
displaced by the tsunami and to all individuals who have 
lost their livelihoods due to the tsunami. 
 
The USAID/DART also visited a camp in a mosque where 390 
families are registered, and 80 families are residing 24 
hours a day.  The GOAL representative advised that there is 
a communal kitchen in Sainthamaruthu that serves between 
1,300 and 1,500 people per day and provides meals to the 
camp. 
 
Shelter:  The USAID/DART visited a prototype shelter built 
by GOAL in Sainthamaruthu.  The shelter was built on land 
obtained from the neighboring Hindu temple, and the GOAL 
representative stated that 40 families will be housed on 
this land. 
 
Debris Removal:  GOAL is involved in debris removal in 
Ampara District, and in the first 20 days of the emergency, 
GOAL moved 2,742 cubic meters of rubble.  GOAL, in 
conjunction with the Ampara District local government, is 
utilizing four machines and 15 tractors that are moving 146 
loads of material and debris per day. 
 
----------------------------------- 
CRS' Activities in Ampara District 
----------------------------------- 
 
9.  The USAID/DART also met with representatives of CRS in 
Ampara District and visited a camp located in a college. 
The camp housed 400 families and several families were 
starting to move out.  CRS is operating in IDP camps in 
Kalmunai Tamil, where between 3,000 and 3,500 families are 
displaced and Kalmunai Muslim, where 9,000 families are 
displaced. 
 
10.  The GOSL would like to relocate people from schools so 
they may reopen and is identifying relocation sites to move 
people on a temporary basis (six to nine months) until the 
plan for reconstruction of new permanent housing is 
finalized and implemented.  In order to avoid overcrowding 
in relocation sites, CRS is exploring options for locations 
for transitional shelter.  CRS undertook an assessment of 
displaced populations in camps in Kalmunai Tamil and 
Kalmunai Muslim to understand options available for the 
displaced communities.  The assessment led to three 
categories of displaced populations:  families willing to 
have transitional structures on their own land; families who 
have the option to set up transitional structures with host 
families; and families who have no option but to move to the 
relocation sites.  CRS is exploring the options available 
for displaced families and their preferences for relocation 
in order to prevent overcrowding in relocation sites. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
USAID/DART Trip to Ampara with Asian Development Bank 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
11.  On January 22, the USAID/DART accompanied Ambassador 
Paul Speltz, U.S. Executive Director to the Asian 
Development Bank (ADB), on a four hour tour of the Ampara 
coastal areas affected by the earthquake and tsunamis. 
Ambassador Speltz was in Colombo to attend a briefing of the 
International Financial Institutions (IFIs) sector 
assessments.  Speltz stated that he believed that the 
assessments were generally accurate given the short time 
allotted to conduct them, but added that the IFIs should 
consult closely with USAID in further developing their plans 
for the reconstruction phase.  Ambassador Speltz praised 
USAID's response to the Tsunami which he said had been quote 
terrific end quote. 
 
12.  The group traveled from the Ampara Air Force Base to 
Maradamunai in Ampara District, accompanied by the USAID/OTI 
representative in Ampara and his Sri Lankan staff.  The 
group visited affected coastal areas, a USAID/OTI funded 
clean-up campaign at a local school, an IDP camp in a girls' 
school, and a local school constructed with ADB funding. 
The number of families at Zahira College, an IDP center, had 
dropped from an initial 428 families to about 200 families. 
The USAID/DART reported that most of the families who were 
leaving the camp lived in homes that were damaged but not 
destroyed and were moving back to their homes after the 
debris in their homes had been cleaned up.  The USAID/DART 
reported that in general, it appeared that structures built 
with cement and reinforcing rods, even close to the 
shoreline, survived the brunt of the earthquake and tsunamis 
while those built with unreinforced brick (the majority) 
were completely destroyed. 
 
13.  According to the USAID/DART, local contacts in Ampara 
District indicated that the distribution of relief supplies 
to those affected by the earthquake and tsunamis appeared to 
be equitable after an initially slow start; however, the 
issue of conflict displaced IDPs was raised.  Most conflict 
IDPs have not been resettled for years and now attention has 
turned to tsunami victims.  The USAID/DART noted that the 
same situation exists in Trincomalee and elsewhere and 
represents a potential future flashpoint. 
 
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Assessment trip to Ampara with Head of CNO 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
14.  On January 23, a 12-person CNO delegation, headed by 
Dr. Tara De Mel, Head of the CNO, visited Ampara District to 
assess linkages between CNO activities and actual conditions 
in the impacted areas.  The USAID/DART Team Leader in Sri 
Lanka and USAID/DART Liaison to the CNO accompanied the 
delegation.  The group visited an IDP camp located at a 
school and visited the proposed relocation site.   The issue 
of rations was discussed as families that did not lose their 
homes were also claiming the need for rations. 
 
15.  The delegation met with the Ampara Government Agent 
(GA) to discuss the specific needs of the district and 
coordination of NGO activities.  The GA stated there were 51 
NGOs working in Ampara District; however, it was unclear 
whether these NGOs are all working on long-term projects. 
Issues such as well water quality, distributions of drinking 
water, need for tents to relocate camps currently lodged in 
schools, and mosquito problems were also discussed. 
 
16.  Dr. De Mel emphasized the role of the CNO and 
established communication links between sectoral 
representatives in the field and counterparts within the 
CNO. 
 
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Coordination with the U.S. Military 
------------------------------------- 
 
17.  On January 23, the U.S. Military transported 10 metric 
tons (MT) of produce to Matara in southern Sri Lanka, and on 
January 24, the U.S. Military transported 6 MT of produce to 
Galle.  The U.S. Military completed operations to transport 
produce for the National Agrobusiness Council on January 24. 
 
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USAID/DART Staffing 
--------------------- 
 
18.  As of January 25, there are 13 members of the 
USAID/DART in Sri Lanka and Maldives.  Of the 13 USAID/DART 
members, one individual is in Galle and another team member 
is in Male', Maldives. 
 
ENTWISTLE