US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO1795

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 001795 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SA/INS FOR M.GOWER AND C.SIM; TREASURY FOR S.CHUN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, ECON, PGOV, CE, MV, Maldives, Tsunami 
SUBJECT: Post-Tsunami Housing Update: Sri Lanka and 
Maldives 
 
REF: STATE 184326 
 
1.  This cable is in response to reftel. 
 
2.  Summary: Overall, the housing process is going well in 
Sri Lanka and Maldives, with the recent announcement of 
relaxed buffer zone requirements in Sri Lanka possibly 
improving the outlook for construction of additional 
permanent housing.  All IDPs who wish to be in temporary 
housing in Sri Lanka and Maldives are accommodated. 
Neither the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) nor the Maldivian 
Government (GORM) is seeking additional funds for either 
temporary shelter upgrades.  NGOs are working with donors 
and the GSL to develop preparedness plans for coming 
monsoons in Sri Lanka.  Maldives is coming out of the 
monsoon period (which will end in October) and reports no 
adverse affects on the IDP community.  The GORM, with 
limited absorptive capacity, is making a strong effort, 
trying to effectively program 10-15 times their normal 
intake of foreign assistance, while simultaneously dealing 
with an enormous budget shortfall, and increased welfare 
needs.  We are working with the GORM to identify 
appropriate uses for our USD 8.7 million contribution and 
will conclude an agreement identifying sectors soon.  Given 
that several inhabited islands were rendered uninhabitable 
by the tsunami, and that impacted areas are dispersed over 
1000 miles of the Indian Ocean, there will need to be an 
element of patience in working with the GORM on this 
rebuilding effort. End Summary 
 
Sri Lankan Housing Situation 
---------------------------- 
 
3.  The GSL divides housing into two categories ? owner- 
driven and donor-driven.  Under the owner-driven housing 
program, homeowners who suffered damage in the tsunami are 
provided rebuilding grants and take the responsibility for 
their own repairs.  To date, of 45,578 tsunami affected 
households in the program, 42,486 have received the initial 
tranche of monies (which is to be provided in three 
tranches). 
 
4.  Under the donor-driven housing program, donors are 
rebuilding homes, typically outside the 100m/200m ?buffer 
zone? declared by the GSL in the immediate aftermath of the 
tsunami.  Thus far, out of 49,273 required houses, 
 
SIPDIS 
approximately 3,000 have been completed and 20,188 have 
been started.  ?Started? is a loose term in Sri Lanka and 
could mean, for example, that work has started on a 200 
house project, even though only a few foundations are 
actually underway.  Task Force for Rebuilding the Nation 
(TAFREN) Chairman Mano Tittawella told the Ambassador on 
October 3 that he thought most permanent housing would be 
finished by March 2006. 
 
5.  In an October 6 meeting with NGO partners, USAID/OFDA 
sought impressions about the state of the housing 
situation, both temporary and permanent.  USAID has hosted 
similar meetings in the past and the NGOs meet on their own 
to share information twice a month - something they have 
been doing since most of them arrived following the tsunami. 
 
6.  From the International NGO and GSL perspectives, most 
of the people affected by the tsunami are now either living 
in the temporary housing or with family and friends (Note: 
surveys conducted by UN agencies and the GSL confirm this 
impression).  There appear to be very isolated instances of 
families still in tents (not part of the USAID-assistance 
program), but the GSL is actively seeking to place anyone 
who remains outside the formal program.  In some cases, it 
is possible that families in tents are not tsunami displaced, 
but simply the recipient of tsunami tents, after the initial 
recipients moved into transitional shelters. Most of the USAID 
Partner NGOs have moved into the "repair and maintenance" 
phase of the temporary housing program. This maintenance 
focuses on upkeep, as well as disaster preparedness and 
mitigation. 
 
Monsoon in Sri Lanka 
-------------------- 
 
7.  All USAID Partners indicated they are developing and/or 
reviewing disaster plans and vulnerabilities to flooding, 
among other scenarios.  They will stay in this phase 
throughout the upcoming monsoon season in the east.  Most 
partners felt disaster preparedness was a major focus of 
the GSL?s Transitional Accommodation Program (TAP) office 
as well (this was confirmed by Task Force for Relief 
(TAFOR) and TAP Chair Tilak Ranaviraja in a meeting with 
the Charge on October 11). 
 
Buffer Zone Exemptions Announced 
-------------------------------- 
 
8.  While it appears that efforts are being made to 
consider possible disaster scenarios for temporary housing 
residents during the upcoming monsoon season, there are 
additional efforts underway to jump start the permanent 
housing program.  Most significantly, donors were called to 
a meeting with the Chair of the Task Force for Rebuilding 
the Nation (TAFREN), the Secretary of Finance and the 
Secretary for Urban Development on October 7 (Ambassador, 
 
SIPDIS 
USAID Director and Econchief attended for the US) in which 
the GSL announced that while it intended to enforce the 
100m/200m buffer zone policy, it would do so with 
significant exemptions in all tsunami affected areas. 
These exempted areas would, in some cases, allow people to 
build as close as 40 meters to the shore.  Anyone with land 
in these areas would be allowed to build, once they have 
obtained the appropriate permits. 
 
9.  The Urban Development Authority and the Coastal 
Conservation Department (CCD) will publish exact exemption 
information and NGOs and Multilateral Donors will 
coordinate with the GSL to accommodate those people who 
wish to move back to their previous homes, assuming they 
held title to the land (Note: the Secretary of Urban 
Development informed donors that if people could prove they 
had been on the land for a certain amount of time, they 
could be eligible for a pre-existing amnesty and possibly 
entitled to land title. End Note).  While this is good news 
and could mean that as many as 10,000 additional permanent 
units could be started almost immediately (according to 
TAFREN officials), as always, the devil will be in the 
details, and those have not yet been published. 
Nonetheless, the GSL made a public announcement of the 
relaxation of the buffer zone over the weekend and will 
certainly face pressure to be expansive in the exemptions 
it grants (Note: this outcome is largely the result of 
excellent work by representative from FEMA, USGS and OFDA 
who visited Sri Lanka in August, under USAID sponsorship, 
and as follow-up to an Embassy sponsored video conference 
with senior GSL officials in June. End Note). 
 
NGO Concerns in Sri Lanka 
------------------------- 
 
10.  With the relaxation of the buffer zone, it is possible 
that the largest obstacle to permanent housing has been 
resolved.  Nonetheless, there remains an ongoing point of 
contention between donors, the GSL and NGOs with regard to 
housing: time.  NGOs feel pressured to build, yet want to 
ensure that they conduct proper consultations with 
residents and communities.  As several NGO reps have put 
it, ?we don?t want to build houses people won?t live in.? 
NGO reps claim the housing effort in Sri Lanka has been 
extremely fast by international standards, and the fact 
that significant progress has been made on the permanent 
housing phase (not just the temporary housing phase, which 
has been completed) is both positive and problematic. 
 
Maldives 
-------- 
 
11.  According to International Federation of Red Cross 
(IFRC) reps in Maldives, no displaced IDPs are without 
shelter.  The majority are housed in temporary shelter 
blocks constructed by the GORM and IFRC on Huhumale (the 
large island next to Male, to which the GORM hopes to 
entice new residents, to ease overcrowding on Male and to 
begin the process of moving people off of small, remote 
islands that are considered unsafe and not economically 
viable).  All temporary shelters are built to NGO- 
established ?sphere? standards. 
 
12.  There are 7,776 IDPs in Maldives and 6,459 are 
currently in temporary shelter.  1,274 are staying with 
families or friends and 521 remain in their damaged homes. 
80 IDPs have chosen to remain housed in tents on their 
respective islands, rather than move into temporary shelter 
elsewhere. 
 
13.  According to the IFRC, there are no funding gaps in 
the housing sector, though the GORM Planning Department is 
checking to see if there are possibly gaps repairs to 
transitional housing.  UNDP reports a funding shortfall of 
USD 7.5 million in its shelter program. 
 
14.  Under the GORM Permanent Shelter program, 4,147 homes 
will be repaired and 2,719 new houses will be built.  The 
GORM intends to have all housing projects completed by the 
end of 2007. 
 
Monsoon in Maldives 
------------------- 
 
15.  The monsoon in Maldives precedes Sri Lanka and is due 
to end in October.  Thus far there have been no adverse 
reports of additional displacements due to the rains.  The 
GORM and IFRC continually monitor the temporary housing 
sector and seek to ensure to that all temporary structures 
remain up-to-date. 
 
Maldivian Aid Absorption Capacity 
--------------------------------- 
 
16.  Prior to the tsunami, Maldives absorbed approximately 
USD 30 million in foreign assistance each year, according 
to the Deputy Minister of Finance.  That amount has leapt 
to close to USD 300 million in the wake of the tsunami.  In 
addition to tsunami damage repair and replacement, Maldives 
is also facing a severe downturn in its tourist arrivals 
(though the pace is beginning to pick up again) and a 
budget shortfall of approximately USD 100 million. 
 
17.  Maldives was organized and performed well during the 
initial relief phase of the post-tsunami period.  It was 
quick to develop a framework for assistance in its Tsunami 
Relief and Reconstruction Fund (TRRF), which immediately 
won plaudits from the World Bank and ADB, who announced 
that they would use that venue for much of their aid 
disbursement. 
 
18.  In the transition from relief to reconstruction, 
however, Maldives? small size and limited resources are 
beginning to show.  It has struggled to prioritize needs 
and the World Bank and ADB have placed full time resident 
representatives in country to assist in the reconstruction 
financing arrangements.  The GORM is working to implement 
its framework for dealing with the huge inflow of funds it 
is slated to receive. 
 
19.  The US offer of USD 8.7 million was greatly 
appreciated by the GORM and the GORM desire to program that 
money into specific, significant, high-return, high-need 
projects has led to a delay in finalizing the agreement. 
Further, US willingness to be flexible in how the money is 
spent (many donors identify monies for particular sectors, 
mainly housing) has given the GORM an opportunity to look 
at several key areas (such as transportation infrastructure 
and water and sanitation).  Part of the problem in 
finalizing the agreement has to do with limitations in 
various GORM departments, while other challenges have been 
related to external events, including a recent cabinet 
reshuffle, which reorganized several of the departments 
involved in the process and the beginning of Ramadan, which 
includes significantly reduced work-hours.  Econchief and 
representatives from the GORM Department of External 
Resources are working to craft a draft agreement that 
identifies uses for the US contribution, a timeline for 
disbursement and a framework of the selection of specific 
projects, as needs assessments in the related areas are 
completed.  We will conclude this process soon. 
 
20.  Comment: Housing in both countries is going well, 
though clearly there are challenges in each program. 
USAID continues to monitor the situation on the ground 
in Sri Lanka via its implementing partners, but there 
are currently no GSL requests for additional assistance. 
We will continue our efforts to conclude the bilateral 
agreement with Maldives immediately.  End Comment 
 
ENTWISTLE