Four years after the tsunami hit the East coast and destroyed hundreds of homes in the Ampara district, displaced families are still living in so-called “temporary” shelters and waiting for the new homes they have been promised.
At Saintamarutu, Ampara, 300 families are packed into 18 refugee camps, while another 400 families are being accommodated by relatives.
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| Over 70 families live in makeshift homes on the premises of a Jumma mosque; meanwhile, the children are missing out on school. |
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Poor living conditions make life even more difficult and depressing at the refugee camps. The buildings are deteriorating by the day, and the toilets are in a filthy state.
In the Saintamarutu mosque area alone, there are 73 displaced families, and they all have tales of misery to share. The houses they are awaiting remain half-built. The families wait in hope for the day they can move into a place they can call home.
Twenty-two families occupy a refugee camp on land belonging to the Ceylon Electricity Board. M. Jarina laments that every day she asks about the home she has been promised, but her enquiries fall on deaf ears. Toilets are overflowing and the stench of sewage is overwhelming, she adds.
Another refugee said she and her husband and two daughters live in a tiny room. Her husband collects a few rupees every day weeding gardens. She said her family is waiting patiently for a house to start life anew.
W. W. Mansoor, who is roughing it out in a mosque, says the only people who stop to listen to the refugees’ problems are members of the media.
Meanwhile, the hundreds of children in refugee camps are missing out on education, he said.
M. Thilakawathie, at the Maliyanadu refugee camp, said it has been four long years since she lost her home. When she wakes up in the morning, she is not sure if she will have food that day. She cannot remember when she last had a square meal.
She ekes out a living doing garden work for different houses. Life is very hard, she says.
L. M. Saleem said sharing the same space and facilities with 700 families has become intolerable. He said he and his family cannot wait to move out, and they are counting the days.
According to Sunil Kannangara, more than 700 houses are required to house the displaced persons. He said he had heard that construction work was nearing completion. He wondered why, after four years, the houses have still not been completed.
One big problem is the lack of suitable and available land to build new houses.
Much of the delay is attributed to the long and costly process of acquiring land and filling up marshy areas to put up housing complexes.
It is understood that some 4,900 new houses were to be built up in the Ampara district.
The Ministry of Nation Building is committed to building 666 housing units, but only 196 units have been completed.
Many of the refugees say they are praying that the President will hear about their plight and come to their rescue. | 
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