Kiwi expertise builds strong Sri Lanka link

By M.C.A. Hassan
in New Zealand

Two New Zealand engineers have helped in re-constructing tsunami devastated villages in Sri Lanka.

Former Remuera resident, Murray Burt, is one of two New Zealand engineers who have toiled on projects for more than a year. According to a recent report in the East & Bays Courier, two cricket villages have been opened in Sri Lanka’s Matara region, a coastal area at the southern tip of the country devastated by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

They’re called cricket villages because the new houses have been funded by money raised during charity matches held in New Zealand and Australia.

One village has a very strong Kiwi connection. In that, two of the streets, named by the communities themselves, are Sir Richard Hadlee Mawatha and Martin Crowe Mawatha.

Murray and his wife Miriam were watching the one-day international between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at Eden Park on December 26, 2004 when news of the tsunami came through.

“As the match drew to a close, news started to filter through that the tsunami was destroying the Sri Lankan coastline,” Murray recalls. “The Sri Lanka game was called off and the players went home to assist their families.”

Murray and Wellington engineer Tom Magill have experience in post-conflict situations and realised their expertise would help the survivors re-build their country. Murray was appointed the construction manager for the south zone and Tom the national construction adviser.

Both men are still working in Sri Lanka – managing the building of houses, schools, hospitals, shops and training centres, as well as the infrastructure for water supply and sanitation.

More than $1 million was raised at the charity matches by New Zealand Cricket and by World Vision with matching funds provided through NZAID, the government’s international aid and development agency. The funds went to build Marvan Atapattugama, a village of 99 houses and amenities, including schools and school supplies. A nearby village was built with Australia Cricket funding and aid from World Vision, Australia.