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Meethotamulla victims fear obscurity due to floods, landslides
View(s):Residents of Meethotamulla who were affected by the collapse of the garbage dump, this week expressed fears they would be forgotten after last week’s landslides and floods. An activist involved in protecting the rights of those affected, Attorney-at-Law Nuwan Bopage said that, already, compensation payments had slowed down and they believe, funds for the affected would be reduced due to the recent disaster.
“Police complaints lodged on missing items and damage to houses, and the compensation for destroyed houses are not provided or, even discussed,” he said. The Government had provided Rs 50,000 per month, per household, for a three-month period, while around Rs 200,000 was provided to the over 100 affected families, to buy furniture.
The Sunday Times learns that this Rs 200,000 given to buy furniture, has been utilised by most of the people who rented out houses, as initial payments, and are, therefore, left with items donated as relief.
Meanwhile, 30 families displaced by the garbage collapse have been resettled on one floor of “Laksanda Sewana”, a building belonging to the Urban Development Authority.
Keerthiratna Perera who had earlier warned the Govt of the dangers posed by the garbage dump, and lost four members of his family to the garbage collapse, told the Sunday Times that those victims have not received any compensation for the deaths of their family members.
He said the incident was not a natural disaster but man-made, which killed innocent people and therefore, more compensation was needed. Meanwhile, the Valuation Dept and Survey Generals Dept officials have collected information on the destroyed houses, to assess the compensation to be paid.