US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO725

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 000725 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO PASS TO USAID 
USAID/W FOR A/AID ANDREW NATSIOS, JBRAUSE 
DCHA/OFDA KISAACS, GGOTTLIEB, MMARX, RTHAYER, BDEEMER 
AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA 
DCHA/FFP FOR LAUREN LANDIS 
DCHA DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR WILLIAM GARVELINK 
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 #20 
 
REF:  Colombo 646 
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Summary 
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1.   The USAID/Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) field 
officer (FO) and USAID/Colombo Humanitarian Assistance Program 
Manager (HAPM) traveled to eastern Sri Lanka from April 6 to 9 
to monitor USAID/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance 
(OFDA)-funded programs and review the progress of tsunami 
recovery efforts.  USAID staff met with representatives from 
Catholic Relief Services (CRS), World Vision (WVI), Sri Lanka 
Red Cross (SLRC), GOAL, CARE, and Mercy Corps during the 
course of this field visit.  All of these agencies are 
involved in tsunami clean-up projects or construction of 
transitional housing.  Non-governmental organization (NGO)- 
sponsored clean-up projects appear to be winding down in 
eastern Sri Lanka, although some cash-for-work initiatives 
will continue for the time being to remove remaining debris 
from areas affected by the tsunami.  In reference to 
transitional housing projects, NGOs cited the same constraints 
reported earlier (reftel) that have retarded progress in 
moving displaced persons from emergency shelters into 
appropriate shelters for extended stays: i.e. shortage of raw 
materials, delays in clearing construction materials through 
ports, rapidly rising costs of material and labor, confusion 
over Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) policy on rebuilding in 
the designated coastal buffer zone, and difficulty in 
identifying appropriate sites for location of transitional 
housing.  However, NGOs are working hard to find solutions to 
some of the challenges facing the transitional housing sector 
and substantial progress is being made.  End summary. 
 
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Batticaloa District 
-------------------- 
 
2.   According to a recent report from the U.N. Office for the 
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the pace of 
construction of transitional shelters in Batticaloa District 
remains slow. Just over 9,000 semi-permanent shelters are 
currently required in total in the district. Of these, some 
1,600 have been constructed through the first week of April. 
The Shelter Task Force concluded this week that the main 
reasons for the slow progress continues to be the lack of 
sufficient supply of construction materials and skilled labor, 
the wish of beneficiaries to immediately move from temporary 
into permanent shelter, as well as the limited capacity of the 
Urban Development Authority (UDA) and the Survey Department. 
 
 
3.   CRS re-iterated that there are 9,000 families in need of 
shelter in Batticaloa District.  CRS plans to build 
transitional shelter for 2,300 families in the district. 
Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) is 
the head of the Shelter Task Force in Batticaloa with 20-30 
NGOs participating in shelter construction projects. 
 
4.  The CRS representative in Batticaloa mentioned that the 
lack of building materials has hindered their progress in 
building the 2,300 transitional shelters.  There are shortages 
of timber, high-quality plastic, and cadjan (matted palm 
leaves to form thatch).  CRS has imported timber from 
countries in the region, but recent changes in the customs 
regulations have slowed down clearance from Sri Lanka's ports. 
CRS does expect to clear a load of timber through customs by 
the second week of April, and this will provide them with 
enough material to construct 2,000 housing units (1,000 of 
them in Batticaloa District).  CRS is also managing to procure 
some quantities of timber within Sri Lanka in order to boost 
its production of transitional shelters.  The arrival of 
Oxfam's 12,000 - 13,000 cubic feet of timber from Australia in 
May 2005 will support CRS efforts to build transitional 
housing as a portion of this consignment will be dedicated to 
the CRS program. 
 
5.  USAID staff visited one of the sites in Batticaloa 
District where CRS is currently building transitional 
shelters.  Construction was moving quickly with over 25 units 
already in place accompanied by latrines and washing 
facilities that had been built with support from the U.N. 
Children's Fund (UNICEF). The team interviewed several 
residents of the transitional shelters, and all seemed to 
appreciate the transition from emergency shelters to the solid- 
structure single-family houses. 
 
6.   While stopping by one unit under construction, USAID 
staff learned that the frame of the house can be erected 
within a matter of a few hours with the entire unit completed 
in less than four days.  Neighbors frequently are helping each 
other with the construction of transitional shelters. 
 
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Ampara District 
--------------------- 
 
7.   USAID staff met with representatives of World Vision 
(WVI) in Kalmunai where final distributions of USAID/OFDA- 
funded hygiene kits had just been completed.  WVI's field 
officer noted that the hygiene kits were generally well 
received.  With the completion of the distribution of 
USAID/OFDA-financed hygiene kits, WVI will likely continue 
distributing additional hygiene kits to tsunami-affected 
displaced persons in camps in Ampara District, for the time 
being, with funds from other donors.  The lack of access of 
many displaced households to adequate income-generating 
activities serves as the basis for WVI's decision to continue 
with the distribution of hygiene kits. 
 
8.   GOAL originally planned to construct 2,500 transitional 
shelter units when drafting their initial proposal to 
USAID/OFDA.  However, given the rising costs for materials and 
labor required per unit, the upgrading of standards for 
transitional shelter mandated by the GOSL, and the appearance 
of additional NGOs who are building transitional shelter, GOAL 
has decided to revise its target from 2,500 units down to 
1,200 units of transitional housing.  With the cost of each 
shelter going up significantly due to inflation, GOAL will 
have to reduce the number of units produced if it is to 
maintain the standards of quality set by the GOSL, donors, UN 
agencies, and NGOs. 
 
9.   GOAL field officers noted that they had experienced 
difficulties in the allocation of land by the GOSL for the 
construction of transitional shelter.  In an effort to 
overcome this challenge, staff from GOAL has been busy 
visiting the owners of open plots of land to request 
permission to build transitional shelters for the tsunami- 
displaced households.  GOAL has achieved some success in 
finding sites for construction, mostly on small plots that 
permit the construction of under a dozen shelters.  [Comment: 
The creation of the GOSL's coastal buffer zone that prohibits 
the re-building of damaged/destroyed housing stock within 200 
meters of the shore has reduced the options for construction 
of transitional housing.  Areas in the seaside towns and 
villages of Ampara District are relatively congested leaving 
little property (aside from the coastal buffer zone area) 
where transitional shelters can be constructed, thereby 
slowing down the process of moving displaced families from 
emergency shelters to sturdier, more weather-proof structures. 
End Comment.] 
 
10.  The USAID team traveled to Akkaraipattu in Ampara 
District to meet with representatives from CARE.  CARE staff 
explained that they had just completed a debris clearance 
project funded by USAID/OFDA.  CARE's project utilized cash- 
for-work to employ 1,500 people to remove rubble for 67 
villages in the surrounding area. 
 
11.  CARE noted that they are planning a distribution of 
emergency relief supplies to 2,500 households in and around 
Akkaraipattu.  The distribution of emergency relief supplies 
has been somewhat complicated with many NGOs arriving in the 
area, but not coordinating their work with other agencies. 
Many NGOs performed distributions of emergency relief supplies 
without conducting assessments or registering their 
beneficiaries.  In order to avoid duplication, CARE has 
registered their beneficiaries and sought out groups that have 
not yet received emergency relief supplies.  CARE is focusing 
particularly on tsunami-affected households outside of camps 
since these groups are often overlooked by inexperienced aid 
agencies that flock to easy-to-find camps for distribution of 
their relief supplies. 
 
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Aragum Bay/Pottuvil 
------------------ 
 
12.  USAID staff traveled from Pottuvil to Aragum Bay over the 
newly-reopened bridge crossing the bay.  The Indian and Sri 
Lankan militaries collaborated with the Road Development 
Authority to finish the temporary bridge structure that opened 
to traffic on May 10. 
 
13.  USAID staff met with representatives from Mercy Corps in 
Aragum Bay.  Mercy Corps staff provided a tour of their 
community clean-up project in this tourist-dependent zone that 
had been developed in collaboration with local groups 
including the Aragum Bay Tourism Association. 
 
14.  Local officials in Pottuvil requested that Mercy Corps 
provide transitional housing for 28 Tamil households displaced 
by the tsunami.  Mercy Corps reported that these families have 
been pressured by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) 
to avoid moving into transitional housing on sites near the 
Special Task Force (STF) bases.  Mercy Corps did identify a 
suitable site in Pottuvil, and they are now building 
transitional housing units for four families displaced by the 
tsunami. 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
 
 
LUNSTEAD