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Now
that the tsunami after-shocks have died down, it is time to
think long-term.
A huge coastal area of the country lie in ruins and
shambles. A humongous clean-up operation awaits the green
light.
So many people's future lie in the hands of the State, the
UN and other donor agencies. It is a responsibility like
never before. Not even in our two-decade long war did the
country face displacement and destruction of this magnitude.
Never did the State have so many people totally dependent
upon it for everything.
A million refugees today await government decisions and aid
- from the clothes they wear, to their daily rice and dhal,
to their homes and their fishing boats, the displaced are
dependent upon the State and other agencies for the most
urgent needs.
But as usual, the aid-dependency is now becoming epidemic.
Many displaced people languish in refugee shelters, just so
they can grab what they can from the next lorry load that
comes along.
Two weeks after the tsunami it could be well assumed that
the majority have gotten over the initial terrible shock.
People must begin helping themselves. The government must
aid this process as a necessary step towards healing and
return to normalcy.
For
example, why can't the displaced people- many of them
able-bodied men who have been living an out-of-doors life as
fishermen- help out in rehabilitating of damaged
infrastructure? In Batticaloa, the main roads are in a
deplorable state after the tsunami and flash floods, and
needs urgent repair.
Easily the displaced people, who have also lost their known
livelihood, could now be roped into the labour force to do
other jobs- such as road rehabilitation, cleaning up damaged
areas or pumping out wells or building temporary toilets for
the refugee camps. |
           
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This would give them an opportunity to work and earn a
respectable wage instead of constantly depending on provided
rations, and take their minds off the terrible loss they
have all suffered in some form or the other.
Many of the refugee camps - island wide - had no proper
sanitation facilities. There was no privacy for women.
Hundreds, at times thousands of people were in school
buildings that had one or two bathrooms. With a little
guidance temporary toilets could have been built using
refugee labour and very little resources.
Toilets should have been done a day or maximum two days
after the tsunami struck; after all we are a country quite
used to refugee situations. But two weeks after the
disaster, this was still a non-addressed issue.
A friend who went down to Matara to help people clean up
their flooded homes came back to Colombo a little bitter.
"People just don't want to help themselves. They do not even
want to clean up their own homes and instead wait for
outsiders to come and do every little bit."
In areas of the east coast we had similar experiences where
people would stand around at gawk while aid workers, local
NGOs and other 'outsiders' did the work without even
volunteering to help.
One has to allow for the fact that many of these people have
lost everything. Sometimes half their families as well as
their homes, boats, shops, hotels, etc. But the time has
certainly come to shake the displaced out of this miserable
lethargy. Get them involved actively contributing to the
rebuilding process.
After all it is their village, their homes, their roads that
are now being (or are planned to be) rebuilt by the State or
by donors. The people have to be stakeholders in the
process.
They should have their say over the reconstruction plans,
models as well as being participants of the entire exercise.
This will pave the way for better healing - physically and
psychologically. |
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