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Housing
for refugees face stormy seas Ampara District Secretary, Herath Abeyweera said the temporary resettlement of those living in camps was the main issue at the moment. Finding temporary shelters for the displaced and taking them out of the 30 schools that are still being used as camps has not proved easy. The authorities in Ampara say they have two ways in which the shelter issue could be dealt with so as to enable the schools to be re-opened. "Six hundred and thirty temporary shelters have been constructed with the help of NGO's, the NHDA and other organisations. We have ordered for tents through the UNHCR and the CNO and we hope we will get enough for our purpose. Some organizations have promised to build more permanent structures later on but until such time we will have to manage with tents. The other solution envisaged is to provide the children with alternate accommodation", Mr. Abeyweera said. He said the proposed 200-metre buffer zone has raised many questions which would be a stumbling block to the re-opening of schools by February 1. Mr. Abeyweera said until a final decision by the government -- taking into consideration the many requests for a 100-metre buffer zone along the coastal belt -- the authorities in Ampara would go ahead with plans to relocate people wherever bare land was available. "The problem arises when we try to find land for more permanent shelters. The southern part of the district has enough land but the northern parts of Sainthamaruthu, Karaitivu, and Kalmunai are densely populated with no suitable land for building. We might have to look into the option of building high-rise buildings at the same locations in those areas", Mr. Abeyweera said. The Ampara District Secretary was quick to mention that no major setbacks with regard to health issues were reported from the area. "Nevertheless we have received complaints that toilet facilities in the camps are not adequate but the new shelters when they are put up will aim to overcome these shortcomings", he said The Kalmunai Zonal Education Director M.T.A. Nizan said that he felt the system of dual teaching hours where one school has morning and evening sessions for separate groups of students was an option for the moment. "If refugees are in one school and the nearest one is near the sea, we cannot open two schools as a result. The difficulty in re-starting schools is in finding ways to re-arrange everything", he said Of the 57 schools in Kalmunai, only 26 have been re-opened so far. Fifteen schools have been completely damaged while IDPs are residing in 27 of them while three schools are at present used as hospitals. The Akkaraipattu educational zone has 97 schools of which 57 are Muslim, 37 Tamil, and three Sinhala. Twenty three schools had been damaged, and eight completely destroyed. The Zonal Education Director, Mohammed Hashim says schools in Komalai have to face the heaviest burden when considering their re-opening since most people are displaced and none of the children are willing to come back to school. In areas such as Atalachenai, Akkaraipattu, Arleardivemby, Pottuvil and Thirukovil some schools have been partially opened wherever space permits, even while refugees are still housed in its compounds. "The American and Italian NGO's along with the Divisional Secretariats and the UNICEF are helping in the process of getting things organised for the re-opening of schools by February 1", Mr. Hashim said. Ampara SSP Ananda Levangama said the police was continuing with its normal functions while also assisting with the cleaning up operations and providing security to visiting VIPs. |
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