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Camped forever!

Colombo’s tsunami survivors say help hasn’t come their way

By Dhananjani Silva

It's been one year and eight months since the tsunami hit our shores in December 2004. While help was at hand for most of the affected to restart their lives, some still remain in refugee camps, neglected and forgotten by the authorities.

Rosemary and Yasintha pondering their fate: How much longer? Pix by Berty Mendis

For a particular community, ironically living in Colombo, it has been a continuing saga of suffering, neglect and discrimination.

When the tsunami hit them, the 154 families living on the Modera Beach, Mattakkuliya, Lunupokuna and Kadirana areas, were given temporary shelters at Vystwyke Park, Mattakkuliya. They expected some form of help and rehabilitation in the months ahead. But months have turned into years. When The Sunday Times visited the site recently, the truth was plain to see – after all this time, their wounds have not healed, but have worsened.

T. A. Tanuja's life is a daily struggle forsurvival. She and her husband find it difficult to care for their three daughters and a son, the youngest just six months old. "Before the tsunami, my husband was doing a small home-based business, making wooden handicrafts. We lost all the equipment in the tsunami and after that he couldn't carry out his business. So he had to seek employment at a tea factory as a labourer. He is a kidney patient and unable to do a lot of hard work. That is why he is trying hard to restart his business," she said.

Tanuja and baby

Although they managed to buy a machine recently, they said they were not in a position to raise more money to buy the other equipment needed. "The money he brings home, after a hard day's work, is barely enough to provide a decent meal for the family," she said.

Tanuja also charged that there was a lot of discrimination when camp dwellers were offered help.

The camp they call their home

"We have lost everything to the tsunami, but we did not get anything from anyone. We are among the 20 families who did not get the Rs. 5000 which was given to the tsunami affected while the rest of the families here received this allowance. Six families moved into new houses and another 17 families will be getting houses in Ragama in the near future. But there are no houses for us. Everything is being given only to a set of people in the camp,” she said bitterly.

She said they had visited the authorities on a number of occasions, furnishing all the necessary documents to obtain money and a house, but each time they were told to come another day. Tanuja also said their continued presence in the camp has earned them the wrath of the residents of the area.

"This is a public playground and children come to play here. They even damage our houses, but we cannot say anything because this land does not belong to us," she added.

Other residents of the camp said the ration card given to them to get rice, dhal, sugar, flour, oil and other essential items was taken away after two months with a pledge that they would be given housing.

Rosemary of tent no 103 said that not a cent was given to them to restart their business. She said she was one of the three camp people who were selected to receive sewing machines but her hopes of resuming her tailoring business were never realised. "Finally I decided to borrow my sister's sewing machine as I cannot survive without earning at least a small income," she said.
Community living has also brought its own attendant problems. The overflowing toilet pits close to the water taps are possible health hazards. The camp dwellers said repeated requests to clean the gullies were ignored by the authorities.

"Look at the state of the floor of these huts; they are full of dust. There is only a thin layer of cement and we are not even allowed to put cement as these temporary shelters are to be returned. But this dust is unbearable, especially for our children," another woman, Yasintha, said.

Yasintha, a mother of two sons, said the dust caused skin problems. "When we go to doctors, they say the itching is due to the germs in the dust," she said. "Life serves no purpose this way. I don't know why we are forced to suffer like this continuously," she said with tears in her eyes.

Yasintha is one among many tsunami victims, who shed a silent tear for the agony they undergo. Sadly, there is little sign that help is on the way. How much longer can they wait?

No land to build houses: Divisional Sec.

The Divisional Secretary, when contacted by The Sunday Times, said they were finding it difficult to relocate the Mattakkuliya tsunami survivors as there was no land available in the Colombo area or the vicinity.

"We even carried advertisements requesting for land but to no avail. If there is land, we can build houses for them. We cannot say exactly when they would be relocated as discussions are still going on," she said.

Dismissing allegations that there is discrimination when new houses are handed over, the Divisional Secretary said the houses given to six families in the community were donated by an NGO.

She said she had no information about another 17 houses, which the camp residents are talking about.

Asked why the ration card was withdrawn, the official said it was stopped because none of these people had lost their jobs as a result of the tsunami.

Methodist College tsunami community: What's happening?

In July, The Sunday Times featured the plight of a tsunami-affected community, living at the Methodist College, Dehiwela. They, like the Mattukuliya tsunami camp people, were promised housing but there has been no good news as months pass.

Ramesh Selliah, Director, Housing Reconstruction and Development Agency (RADA), told The Sunday Times they are being offered two options. The first is that the government provides land and a cash grant to build houses while the second is an enhanced cash grant to buy a house.

"They are more likely to take up the second option as they want to settle down in a place close to where they are now. However, we are awaiting the Colombo District Secretary's response in this regard," Mr. Selliah said.

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