US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO826

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 COLOMBO 000826 
 
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 #22 - VISIT TO SOUTH COAST 
 
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Summary 
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1.   The USAID/Disaster Assistance Response Team 
(DART) field officer (FO) and USAID/Colombo Project 
Development Specialist (PDS) traveled to Hambantota 
and Galle districts on Sri Lanka's south coast from 
April 26 to 28 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 
Sarvodaya, Christian Children's Fund (CCF), GOAL 
and Arthacharya Foundation during the course of 
this field visit.  All of these agencies are 
involved in tsunami clean-up projects, construction 
of transitional housing, sanitation and hygiene 
interventions or micro-credit initiatives. 
Sarvodaya, GOAL and CCF are well into their cash 
for work initiatives.  All of these NGOs reported 
good progress in debris clean-up, road repair, 
latrine construction and other communal 
infrastructure efforts.  As in other tsunami- 
affected areas of Sri Lanka, the issue of the 
buffer zone and uncertainty over government intents 
and government-issued entitlements has prevented 
greater progress in the construction of 
transitional shelter or permanent homes for those 
displaced by the tsunami.  In the area of micro- 
credit, programs funded by USAID/OFDA are just 
beginning to reach households in tsunami-affected 
areas and seem to be having a positive impact.  End 
summary. 
 
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Cash for Work on the South Coast 
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2.   Driving along Sri Lanka's southern coast 
between Kirinda and Galle, USAID staff viewed 
numerous cash-for-work projects sponsored by GOAL 
and CCF with funding from USAID/OFDA.  Men and 
women clustered together in work groups making 
basic repairs to the roads and digging drainage 
culverts with hand tools provided by the NGOs. 
 
3.   GOAL reported that their first visit to the 
village of Kirinda in Hambantota district just a 
few days after the tsunami struck was jarring. 
They saw few signs of life amidst the almost 
complete destruction of the area.  Using OFDA 
funding, GOAL started cash-for-work projects that 
helped bring Kirinda back to life.  People came out 
to participate in efforts to clean the local 
temple, beaches, drainage system and roads.  GOAL 
employed more than 500 people from Kirinda over a 
three-month period. 
 
4.   GOAL's local representative noted that they 
are starting to review cash-for-work projects in 
light of the changing environment along the 
southern coast.  A significant number of people are 
now able to begin working in their pre-tsunami 
professions (albeit on a minimal scale in many 
cases).  GOAL does not want cash-for-work projects 
to serve as a disincentive for individuals to delay 
rebuilding their former livelihoods.  For the 
future, GOAL will attempt to be more selective in 
their criteria for participants in cash-for-work 
projects.  They will attempt to employ only those 
individuals who cannot return to their previous 
jobs or who cannot earn enough income for basic 
subsistence. 
 
5.   CCF escorted OFDA staff to Malala lagoon near 
the town of Udumalala in Hambantota district.  CCF 
has organized a cash-for-work project in 
cooperation with local authorities to repair damage 
to the road running through a local bird sanctuary 
to a lagoon that is used by both rice farmers and 
fisherman for their livelihoods.  CCF has employed 
a number of tsunami-affected individuals to fix the 
road and create drainage culverts to decrease 
flooding during the rainy season.  One woman 
interviewed on the work crew stated that she had 
lost her sewing machine and shop to the tsunami. 
She was hoping to save some income from the cash- 
for-work project to re-start her small business. 
 
6.   CCF has also engaged local people to clear a 
channel that runs from Malala lagoon to the ocean. 
The channel had been partially blocked by the 
tsunami, hampering the normal drainage of water 
 
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from the lagoon to the ocean.  This cash-for-work 
project will restore the lagoon to pre-tsunami 
levels.  CCF is also using this opportunity to help 
create a community-based organization (CBO) 
composed of farmers who depend upon the lagoon for 
irrigation for their rice fields and fisherman who 
fish in the lagoon when rough seas prevent them 
from going to the ocean.  This newly-formed CBO 
will work to monitor conditions in the lagoon and 
help to establish water levels that suit both 
fishermen and farmers.  Previously, there has been 
some conflict between farmers who want a lower 
water level in the lagoon to avoid flooding of 
their rice paddies and fishermen who want a higher 
level in order to accommodate more fish in the 
lagoon.  It is hoped that this new CBO will help 
with conflict resolution over this shared resource. 
 
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Shelter Issues Along the South Coast 
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7.   The question of shelter remains a high 
priority for relief agencies involved in the 
tsunami recovery process along the south coast of 
 
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Sri Lanka.  Certainly, progress has been made.  In 
Kirinda, a private donor funded the construction of 
27 permanent homes for families whose houses had 
been destroyed by the tsunami on December 26, 2004. 
The houses were already occupied by the inhabitants 
at the time of the OFDA visit although minor work 
still remained to be completed.  The new concrete 
houses are well beyond the 100 meter buffer zone 
required by the GOSL.  Additional permanent houses 
are being built on a bluff nearby for the remaining 
population of Kirinda that lost homes to the sea. 
 
8.   The issue of the buffer zone and the lack of 
available land near the coast have stymied the 
rapid construction of permanent homes in other 
areas.  However, NGOs have been able to put up 
significant stock of transitional housing to 
shelter people until a solution is found for 
permanent housing.  In the town of Ambalantota, 
GOAL identified 140 families in need of replacement 
housing.  Since no immediate solution is likely for 
permanent housing due to the decree against 
building in the buffer zone and the lack of 
available land in nearby areas, GOAL has planned 
construction of 140 transitional homes and has 
completed all but eight of these houses in 
Ambalantota. 
 
9.  Driving the stretch of coastal road between 
Galle and Hikkaduwa, USAID staff viewed a number of 
tent settlements nestled in open spaces.  Due to a 
lack of time, USAID staff were not able to visit 
these tent cities and interview their inhabitants 
regarding their shelter situation.  However, 
discussions with several international and national 
aid agencies on the topic of the tents shed some 
light on the reason for continued use of these 
tents. 
 
10.  UNHCR's shelter coordinator (Jo da Silva) 
noted that great progress is being made in the 
shelter sector and that a large number of 
transitional shelters are being constructed along 
the south coast of Sri Lanka for those displaced by 
the tsunami.  She noted that it is important to 
recognize that the situation in the shelter sector 
varies widely from location to location.  The 
progress or lack of progress is often dependent on 
conditions that are particular to individual 
districts or even individual communities.  She is 
currently working on a report that will identify 
the particular constraints on greater progress in 
the shelter sector in each of Sri Lanka's 11 
tsunami-affected districts.  This report will be 
 
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completed in the next few weeks and will also 
feature views on a way forward and a section 
describing solutions for the particular problems 
that confront the rebuilding process in each of the 
varied districts. 
 
11.  One major determinant is the leadership of 
local authorities.  The attitude of GOSL officials 
differs radically from one district to the next and 
it is this divergent approach of the various 
officials that has a major impact on efforts to 
construct transitional or permanent shelters.  For 
example, government officials in Hambantota 
district have exhibited little interest in the 
concept of transitional housing.  Government 
officials in Hambantota prefer to focus on 
permanent housing solutions leaving NGOs without a 
partner in their attempts to get people out of 
tents and into more suitable transitional homes 
while they wait for permanent housing to be built. 
 
12.  Numbers of families displaced by the tsunami 
remain in tents for a variety of reasons.  Some 
displaced persons wish to remain near their 
villages of origin. In many cases, transitional 
housing in many cases is being offered far from 
their former homes that now exist in the government- 
declared buffer zone.  The tents allow them to 
remain in the proximity of the former villages and 
social networks.  Some tsunami displaced persons 
remain in tents fearing that they will lose their 
entitlement to support from the GOSL if they move 
into transitional housing.  There appears to be no 
basis for this rationale other than misinformation 
circulating among the displaced.  There are no 
indications that the GOSL is withdrawing monthly 
cash grants to displaced families occupying 
transitional shelters. 
 
13.  Although many tent villages dot the road along 
the southern coast, UNHCR's senior shelter advisor 
cautioned that many of the tents are empty and only 
serve as bases for the displaced to collect aid 
distributions since many agencies are not reaching 
displaced persons settled with host families. 
There is also the problem of migration as displaced 
persons move from one area to another in search of 
employment or better conditions.  As many of the 
tents become unbearably hot during the day, a large 
percentage of the displaced seek accommodation with 
family, friends and neighbors until nightfall when 
they return to the tents. 
 
14.  In sum, a large number of transitional 
shelters for the tsunami-displaced population have 
been erected in the southern districts of Sri 
Lanka, but the supply has yet to meet the demand 
for upgraded accommodation with many displaced 
persons still in tents.  The efforts to move 
families into transitional shelters are complicated 
by the buffer zone which has removed a large 
portion of land from use in housing programs.  In 
addition, government authorities in Hambantota and 
other districts have offered little support for 
transitional housing, preferring instead to move 
ahead with a focus on the construction of permanent 
houses.  The situation varies from district to 
district, division to division and village to 
village and there is not one single solution 
applicable to all areas.  Steps forward will have 
to be tailored for differing areas by donors, UN 
agencies, NGOs, local communities, the private 
sector and the government in order to find a 
suitable answer to meet the housing needs of 
families displaced by the tsunami. 
 
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USAID Micro-Credit Gets Moving 
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15.  Nathan Associates, Inc. received $10 million 
from USAID/OFDA for post-tsunami recovery programs 
in Sri Lanka.  One of the principle components of 
their program seeks to help tsunami-affected 
individuals and families regain livelihoods that 
were either lost or negatively-affected by the 
disaster.  During the visit to the south coast, 
USAID staff visited two branches of the Arthacharya 
Foundation, a local NGO that has partnered with 
Nathan Associates to provide micro-credits to 
tsunami-affected persons. 
 
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16.  During the month of April, the Arthacharya 
Foundation's office in Galle received 1.2 million 
Sri Lankan rupees (approximately US$ 12,000) and 
dispersed the entire amount in the form of loans to 
81 individuals.  Their office in Hikkaduwa received 
1.6 million Sri Lankan rupees (equivalent to 
roughly US$ 16,000) and dispersed this amount in 
the form of 161 loans to tsunami-affected 
individuals. 
 
17.  Visits were made to four households that had 
received loans from the Arthacharya Foundation with 
funding provided by USAID/OFDA to Nathan 
Associates.  The first household's primary source 
of income was the production of jewelry for the 
tourist industry.  The tsunami had hit their house 
in the village of Gintota (near Galle).  Although 
the house suffered only minor damage, the water 
swept away or destroyed many of their personal 
belongings.  The family lost all of their tools and 
equipment for the production of jewelry.  A loan of 
35,000 rupees (US$ 350) has enabled them to 
purchase new equipment and tools and begin 
production for their home business. 
 
18.  The second household visited had a 
communication center along the beach in Gintota. 
The tsunami hit the building wiping out their 
inventory of equipment including computers, fax 
machine, and photo-copier.  The Arthacharya 
Foundation provided a loan of 15,000 rupees (US$ 
150) for the communication shop.  The owners have 
re-opened and are back in business. 
 
19.  The Arthacharya Foundation's office in 
Hikkaduwa is working particularly with households 
whose livelihoods were directly affected by the 
tsunami.  One family in the village of Udugalpitiya 
 
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found itself in a difficult position as the head of 
household who normally worked as a day laborer lost 
opportunities for employment in the aftermath of 
the tsunami.  Using the loan of 5,000 rupees (US$ 
50) they purchased pots and pans to double the 
household production of curd to enhance income. 
Before the tsunami, they were only able to produce 
20 pots of curd per day.  With the new equipment 
procured with the loan, they are now able to make 
40 pots of curd per day and are considering the 
purchase of a bicycle to help expand their market. 
 
20.  Another household in Udugalpitiya has fallen 
upon hard times as the chief income earner lost his 
carpentry tools to the tsunami.  They have applied 
for a loan to the Arthacharya Foundation through a 
community-based organization and hope to purchase 
new equipment to begin work again. 
 
21.  Neither of the USAID staff reviewing the micro- 
credit program administered by Nathan Associates is 
an expert in this field.  They were only able to 
make basic observations and a more thorough review 
of the program by a subject matter expert would be 
advised.  It is clear, however, that money is 
getting to people who need in it tsunami-affected 
areas through the loan mechanisms.  The Arthacharya 
Foundation offices visited in Galle and Hikkaduwa 
were staffed by energetic young managers who 
clearly had strong ties with the surrounding 
communities and a history of interventions with 
community based groups. 
 
ENTWISTLE