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Sri Lankan Government Accused of 'Dithering'

By Caroline Gammell, PA Deputy Chief Reporter

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4308457
Three months on from the December 26 tsunami, the Sri Lankan government
is "dithering" over the rebuilding of permanent housing, a British
aid agency worker said today.

Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced by the treacherous waves
as they ripped up coastal communities and killed more than 30,000
people on the island.


Although the money, aid agencies and good will is in place, there is
increasing frustration that people cannot get on and rebuild their
communities.

The problem is that nobody knows where, when or how the permanent
houses are going to be built.

There is confusion as to whether the housing should be built 100m, 200m
or 300m from the shore.

And it is down to the government to make that decision and let people
start rebuilding their lives, said Dominic Nutt, from Christian Aid.

Mr Nutt travelled to Sri Lanka to inspect relief efforts three months
after the disaster and has visited villages surrounding Trincomalee on
the north east coast of the island.

He told PA News: "There is a lot of good news and a lot of bad news.
A lot of rebuilding is happening, there is plenty of water and shelter
and plenty of aid agencies out here."

The aid worker said much of the money donated by British people to the
Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) was in evidence.

"But there there is a big problem - no one is allowed to start
building permanent housing for people. It comes down to the government
dithering about.

"No one is entirely clear what the rules are."

Mr Nutt said although many camps were clean and efficient, others were
still crowded with very poor living conditions.

He told how he saw children in one camp near Trincomalee suffering from
respiratory diseases - a clear sign of bad nutrition.

"The government is responsible for delivering dry rations to the
camps. The trouble is that these dry rations are very, very basic -
just rice and maybe a little oil.

"There are no vegetables and the children are not getting enough
vitamins."

Trincomalee is an area divided between the Singhalese government and
the rebel Tamil Tigers.

Over the last two decades, the area has been ravaged by civil war,
leaving basic administration and poor infrastructure.

Mr Nutt said although everyone on the ground refused to directly blame
the government, the delay in direction was becoming increasingly useful
for propaganda against the government.

"It is not very clever for this to happen in an area which has been
in conflict for so long," he said. "People obviously will
manipulate the situation.

"The problem is purely political - Tamils, Singhalese and Muslim on
the ground are all working together, all relaxed and happy.

"The Sri Lankan government says it has everything organised and it
does in theory but not in practice."

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