US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO1367

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 001367 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA/INS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, EAID, PGOV, SCUL, SOCI, CE, Tsunami 
SUBJECT: TSUNAMI VICTIMS STILL NEED ADEQUATE PERMANENT HOUSING 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (SBU)  July 18-20, poloff visited Galle, Ambalangoda, 
Ambalantota, Matara, and Hambantota to investigate the 
status of tsunami relief.  In meetings with various 
government agents (GAs), non-governmental organizations 
(NGOs), and USAID officers, interlocutors reported that 
there is still a strong need for adequate, permanent 
housing.  Challenges to the restoration effort include: a 
shortage of land, non-tsunami affected people inhabiting 
temporary shelters in attempts to collect aid, inadequate 
community infrastructure provided by the government, tension 
between different classes, people's growing dependence on 
aid, and severely decreased sales by entrepreneurs trying to 
restore their businesses.  However, newly created communities 
of Muslims and Buddhists appear to be living together 
harmoniously.  Notably, the opposition United National Party 
(UNP), campaigning on a platform of economic reform, is 
garnering strong support amongst southern Sri Lankans who are 
still struggling to rebuild after the tsunami.  End summary. 
 
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A FEW SUCCESSES, BUT MANY PROBLEMS 
REMAIN WITH CURRENT SHELTERS 
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2.  (SBU)  Poloff toured a temporary house built by 
Community Habitat Finance International (CHF) and funded by 
USAID.  The housing consisted of a six-inch elevated, cement 
foundation designed to prevent flooding and walls that 
reached the ceilings of the shelters to ensure privacy.  The 
community housed approximately 20 families with a space of 
twice each shelter's height between each home, where each 
structure was built on an angle to create the effect of more 
space.  Each house had gutters to collect rainwater that was 
transported to water filtration systems.  Verandas were 
being added to houses and many homes had their own vegetable 
garden.  Cecil Jayasooriya, an inhabitant of the camp, 
stated that he was completely satisfied with the shelter 
given to him. 
 
3.  (SBU)  CHF officer Jim Kennedy told poloff that 
communities  as well-planned as the CHF camp are scarce in 
the south.  According to Kennedy, many of the NGOs working 
in the area are providing substandard shelters, both 
permanent and temporary.  For instance, he explained, the 
Danish People's Aid had built temporary housing without the 
use of j-hooks on the roofing, causing strong winds to peel 
back the aluminum sheet ceiling.  Permanent housing had 
roofing with a lifespan of only a few years, no sink or 
shower, an unenclosed outdoor bathroom, no electricity, and 
walls that did not reach the ceiling, Kennedy pointed out. 
He noted that shelters are built as close together as 
possible due to the scarcity of land, affording little 
privacy and creating a fire hazard since many homes are 
built from lumber. 
 
4.  (SBU)  Using Kennedy's criteria to assess a permanent 
house built in Siri Bopora by the NGO CARE, poloff noticed 
that the home appeared to have some structural inadequacies 
but was functional overall.  The walls did not reach the 
ceiling which poloff was told only had a lifespan of a few 
years.  However, the house did have electricity, an enclosed 
(but outdoor) toilet and shower, and it followed the rule of 
two heights of a house between each of the structures. 
 
5.  (SBU)  Kennedy stated that one of the greatest 
challenges NGOs faced was the scarcity of available land 
outside the 100 meter buffer zone.  According to him, NGOs 
are unable to tear down the temporary housing and use the 
land to build permanent shelters because Sri Lankans 
unaffected by the tsunami are inhabiting the temporary 
homes.  In a separate meeting, Senior Superintendent of 
Police (SSP) of Matara, Chandana Wickramaratna, agreed with 
this assessment of tsunami relief.  Buddhist monk Venerable 
Gnanavisuddhi Thero of the Sri Wijayananda Pirivena of Galle 
temple, also emphasized the need for adequate permanent 
housing.  Thero stated that if the tsunami-affected people 
receive permanent homes, other problems would fade away.  At 
a separate meeting, Devaka Amarasena of Christian Children's 
Fund (CCF) concurred that sufficient, permanent housing is 
vital. 
 
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POOR GOVERNMENT INFRASTRUCTURE 
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6.  (SBU)  Inhabitants of the CHF-funded tsunami relief camp 
in Ahungalle complained that there was inadequate 
transportation for tsunami victims.  The Divisional 
Secretary (DS) is supposed to provide busing for children, 
 
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but parent Cecil Jayasooriya explained that the bus did not 
come everyday and often came an hour late.  Community Leader 
Aruna Jayaweera agreed that this was problematic for 
children and adults alike. While the children are unable to 
attend school, there is no one to watch them while the 
parents look for employment.  Meanwhile, the closest stores 
are six kilometers away from camp. 
 
7.  (SBU)  Jayasooriya also stated that he received the 
5,000 rupee allowance, which the government had pledged to 
provide monthly, only three times in the seven months after 
the tsunami.  Shopowner Barsham told poloff in a separate 
meeting that he had received the allowance only two times. 
 
8.  (SBU)  Goudsmith, a representative of GOAL, told poloff 
that government policy with respect to the 100-meter buffer 
zone and giving grants is unclear. Also, poor communication 
between the central and local governments, makes it 
difficult to complete relief work.  Amarasena of CCF added 
that government infrastructure is inadequate and there is a 
need for bus stops, street signs, etc. 
 
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AID BECOMES A MORAL HAZARD 
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9. (SBU)  Goudsmith also told poloff that people have become 
complacent and do not feel motivated to find employment 
while they are receiving aid.  She stated that peoples' 
attitudes towards aid ran from a continuum of initial pride 
and refusal of funds, to acceptance as a loan, and finally 
to demands for grants that don't need to be repaid or 
accounted for.  In a separate meeting, Amarasena agreed that 
there is a growing dependence on aid as a means of 
subsistence for the tsunami affected as well as those who 
pose as victims.  Goudsmith told poloff she was concerned 
that tsunami victims are unaware that the assistance is 
temporary and that the GOAL program in Sri Lanka is slated 
to end December 2006. 
 
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CLASS CLASH 
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10.  (SBU)  Wickramaratna said that there is tension between 
different classes in the Matara district.  For example, he 
cited wealthy families' allegations of theft by the poor. 
Yet the disputes are difficult to resolve since items may 
have been washed away by the tsunami.  The police often 
confiscate the questioned items until ownership can be 
determined, Wickramaratna noted.  In a separate meeting, 
Hanson concurred with Wickramaratna's statement.  In 
addition, Hanson remarked that the wealthy went to live with 
their relatives following the tsunami and later return to 
reap aid benefits, which fuelled the resentment of the poor 
who stayed in inadequate temporary housing.  Goudsmith also 
told poloff that some class clashes have occurred in the 
Dickwella camp of the Hambantota District.  Previously 
affluent people were often unwilling to take what was 
offered to them by GOAL, Goudsmith observed. 
 
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DECREASED DEMAND FOR GOODS 
AND HOTEL SERVICES 
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11.  (SBU)  Poloff met with several store owners, whose 
businesses were completely destroyed by the tsunami, and who 
then rebuilt their shops on credit.  All entrepreneurs 
experienced a decrease in sales after the tsunami.  Nizam of 
Salile and Co. in Galle, owner of a pharmacy and accessory 
shop, sells one-tenth of his pre-tsunami sales.  A.R.M. 
Cassim of Thoufeek and Sons and Barsham of Faizals, owners 
of saree shops, have both seen a 25 percent decrease in 
sales.  Only Nizam has reduced his staff.  He reported a 
decrease in competition and is now experiencing a gradual 
increase in sales. 
 
12.  (SBU)  Suresh Fernando of Hambantota Trader's 
Association told poloff that area tourist businesses, such 
as hotels, have seen a drop of sales to approximately 30 
percent of pre-tsunami income.  Fernando owns the Ayurveda 
Beach Resort in Hambantota, which was unaffected by the 
tsunami.  He explained that the hotel has managed to retain 
 
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some business by directly marketing to Germans while 
emphasizing the benefits of ayurvedic (traditional herbal) 
treatments.  Fernando blames extensive press coverage of the 
tsunami for the loss of business. 
 
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RELIGIOUS HARMONY 
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13.  (SBU)  Buddhist monk Thero told poloff that followers 
of Buddhism seem to have become more religious since the 
tsunami.  The Buddhist monks held a chanting session in June 
 
SIPDIS 
to bless the village of Galle, an annual event which few 
attended prior to the tsunami, but which 100,000 attended 
this year June 5-12.  Also, Thero's temple housed 5,000 
people of various faiths for one month after the tsunami. 
 
14.  (SBU)  Amarasena noted that people are living together 
harmoniously across religious lines. He told poloff that 
Buddhist and Muslim children who attend a Christian 
Children's Fund (CCF) school go to a nearby Buddhist temple 
to pray together.  Furthermore, the local staff of the CCF 
is 99 percent Buddhist, Amarasena said.  SSP Wickaramartna 
and Goudsmith also separately told poloff that the Muslim 
and Buddhist communities are living together peacefully. 
 
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TSUMANI-AFFECTED APPEAR TO FAVOR UNP 
 
SIPDIS 
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15.  (SBU)  Fernando believes that people in Hambantota will 
vote for the UNP in the next election because they are 
concerned with the state of the economy and generally feel 
that the UNP addresses economic issues more effectively than 
other parties.  Jayasooriya told poloff that he himself 
voted for the UNP in the last election, and plans to vote 
the same way again.  He is frustrated with the current 
government's inability to address the needs of the tsunami- 
affected people.  He added that Government officials do not 
visit the tsunami relief camps and are unresponsive to the 
demands of the victims. 
 
16.  (SBU)  Hanson has noticed a marked decline in support 
for the Marxist Sinhalese-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi 
Peramuna (JVP) party. He explained that the JVP is against 
foreign influence and aid from NGOs, but people affected by 
the tsunami are more concerned with "bread and butter" 
issues than with theoretical ideals. 
 
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COMMENT 
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17.  (SBU)  There is a strong need for sufficient permanent 
housing, but the lack of available land poses a serious 
challenge to NGOs trying to meet this demand.  The growing 
dependence on foreign aid will likely aggravate the 
floundering regional economy since fewer people are 
motivated to find their own employment.  The GSL must 
develop better infrastructure, communicate more effectively 
with NGOs, and be held accountable for inadequacies, in 
order to have an efficient relief campaign.  Nevertheless, 
it is encouraging that people of different religions and 
ethnicities are managing to live together peacefully in the 
southern provinces of Sri Lanka. 
LUNSTEAD