No food, no medicine and little education

The food crisis facing the people of Vakarai saw little relief with only one lorry-load of food reaching this rebel-held territory in the east, on Monday, a government official said. Last Saturday eight lorry-loads of food were set to leave for Vakarai from Batticaloa but the volatile security situation had prevented the convoy from reaching its destination.Later five of the lorries that were stranded in Mankerni were looted by an armed gang and the food stocks distributed among villagers.

Vakarai’s Assistant Divisional Secretary R. Rakulanayaki said the lorry-load of food was accompanied by three religious dignitaries whose main objective was to look into the welfare of the people. “The road was open only for four hours from 2 p.m. onwards. The food lorry brought only 200 bags of rice and 100 bags of flour, each weighing 50 kg. We tried to distribute the food items to the people who didn’t receive any relief the last time food was distributed,” Ms. Rakulanayaki said.

Apart from the food crisis she also said education has virtually come to a standstill. She said the grade 5 scholarship exam for displaced students from Trincomalee was scheduled for the first week of December but it was unlikely it would be held. “Most of the schools are not functioning as teachers who left Vakarai, have not returned. Some O/Level students have also got stranded. We have asked the Zonal Education Department to make alternate arrangements,” she said.

Meanwhile, the religious leaders who saw the suffering of the people in Vakarai are calling on all parties concerned to cease fire and provide humanitarian relief to the affected people. “Most of the people are living in cramped temporary tents, put up under the shade of trees and along the roads,” Rev Fr. Sritharan Sylvester, the Director of Caritas EHED Batticaloa said.

He said there was no electricity and those who were still staying on in their homes had no access to candles, boxes of matches and kerosene oil, as they were not available. Apart from the food crisis, the people were suffering from a lack of medicines. “A pregnant mother who was having terrible labour pains had been rushed to Vakarai hospital where the lack of medicines had necessitated her transfer to Valachchenai hospital. As a result of the delay the mother died soon after delivery while the baby survived,” said Rev Fr.Sylvester.

He also said that the incessant rains was causing additional grief to those living in tents. “ The rain water seeps into the tents and they find it difficult to sleep. There were reported cases of communicable diseases spreading due to the stagnant rain water and the non-availability of medicines in the hospital,” he lamented.

Rev Sumanarthana Thera, the prelate at Mangalaramaya, Batticaloa who also went to Vakarai commented on the poverty of the people. “It’s sad to see that the basic needs of these people are not being met and they are in dire need of food,” he said. Although agreeing that the government could not open the road leading to Vakarai during attacks and cross fire between armed forces and the LTTE, he urged the government to look for alternative means to alleviate the suffering of the people.

Meanwhile, The Sunday Times learns that the government is to take steps to resettle some of the displaced people from Vakarai in a 50 acre plot of land in the Government-controlled area of Kayankerni. This follows a meeting this week among President’s Advisor Basil Rajapakse, Batticaloa’s Government Agent R.Punniyamoorthy, and security forces in Batticaloa.

An official at the Batticaloa District Secretariat said that around 1000 families will be relocated in Kayankerni, a cleared area in Mankerni. “ We are clearing this area now and within the next couple of weeks, we will be able to resettle the displaced people, including those who are fleeing Vakarai from time to time,” he said.

Commenting on the maintenance of the camps and the burning question of sending food to Vakarai he said NGOs would be overseeing the refugee camps while a convoy comprising eight lorry-loads of food – stocks sufficient for a month—will be heading to Vakarai on Tuesday.