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| Diseases
appear when the flood waters disappear At Pothupitiya off Kalawana, five persons with diarrhoea and 50 cases of viral flu are being treated, a MOH in the area said. The Epidemiological Unit warned of the outbreak of waterborne, diarrhoeal and amoebic diseases including dengue and Japanese encephalitis. Ratnapura and Matara districts could be more susceptible to Dengue and Japanese encephalitis, Epidemiological Unit director Dr. T. A. Kulathilake said. Letrosprosis, a disease spreading from rats could also be reported from these areas, he warned. Food poisoning was another concern as food may be cooked in unhygienic conditions while water may also be contaminated. Sabaragamuwa Province Health Services Director, Dr. Athula Dangalla told The Sunday Times that some students were suffering from diarrhoea at Pothupitiya. Other cases of diarrhoea were reported from Elapatha and Willawitiya Estate among plantation workers. The frustrating conditions that exist in many affected areas still pose obstacles for patients in search of urgent medical attention. Ambulances are unable to use the Kalawana Road, which is impassable due to a landslide while the Rakwana Road is avoided due to the presence of wild elephants in the area. Dr. Dangalla said that while patients travelling on the Balangoda Road were diverted to Diyatalawa and Badulla those coming along the Embilipitiya Road were sent to Matara and Galle. The severity of the floods in Ratnapura made it impossible for post mortems to be carried out on the Elapatha land slide victims. At least 67 people were believed to be dead in the landslide, but only 17 bodies had been recovered so far. Dr. Dangalle said he himself had to travel by helicopter to do the post mortems. He said the break down in telecommunications and other communication services had cut off links even with the police. Forty-seven patients of the Ayurveda hospital in Ratnapura had to be transferred by boat because the institution was under water. Among the patients were six persons who were paralysed. Elapatha, Ratnapura, Ayagama, Kalawana, Nivithigala and Kiriella were the worst affected. Cracks that are to be seen on the walls of the Deniyaya district hospital have made patients fear the building might suddenly collapse should there be another storm. They requested that alternative measures be taken without putting their lives at risk. The Udugama and Neluwa hospital buildings were also damaged. Regional Epidemiologists, MOHs, PHIs and several field staff are said to be deployed in all affected areas, but in some areas people complained that medical supplies had not reached them. The Health Ministry is carrying out awareness programmes to warn the public of disease outbreaks and risks due to unhygienic conditions. Presently, medical teams are chlorinating wells and cleaning drainage and swerage systems in a bid to control the outbreak of any epidemic and minimize health risks. The ministry had also requested the World Health Organisation to provide 100,000 water purification tablets. Water pumping machines were expected to be brought from abroad during the weekend. Hospitals and clinics are being constantly monitored to identify cases suffering from any flood related diseases. Who
was behind Nilwala bund breach? This bund had been damaged without the knowledge of the Irrigation Department which had been the main cause for the floods that ravaged Matara. The flood retention bund was originally built under the Nilwala pilot project to pump rainwater from 'protected areas' to the Nilwala river, thereby avoiding any flooding of the Matara district. Interior Minister John Amaratunga when questioned on the incident admitted the bund was breached with the knowledge of the authorities and claimed that it was done in the interest of the public. "If the bund wasn't broken, the damage that might have been caused due to rising flood waters may have been even worse and it was the people who requested that it be broken", Minister Amaratunga said. The manual breaching of the bund resulted in the Kadduwa, Malimboda, Sultanagoda,Thihagoda and Nadugala areas going under water. Flood levels in the Matara district are reported to remain unchanged with very few places showing a water level to be receding but that too quite slowly. A senior government official attached to the Matara District Secretariat told The Sunday Times that the breach of the bund was due to gross negligence on the part of the Minister who is alleged to have had a hand in the incident. PA
says govt. violated human rights Mr. Nimal Siripala de Silva who is representing the People's Alliance at the IPU claimed that the UNF government delegation to the Inter Parliamentary Union human rights committee, inquiring into the violation of the human rights in Sri Lanka, had lied to the committee and the parliament as well. The complaints included assaults on PA members during the post general election violence, the assault on its members by the police and the harassment of five PA parliamentarians by supporters of Minister John Amaratunga. Nimal Siripala de Silva told The Sunday Times that John Amaratunga who was the UNF representative in the committee saying in parliament that now that everything was over and there would be no outcome from this appearance is misleading. The secretary of the IPU human rights committee on Sri Lanka Ingeborg Schwarz had written to Nimal Siripala saying that the interior minister had not provided evidence on specific cases and had said that on the issue of assault of parliamentarians no formal complaints had been lodged. The Sunday Times learns that the opposition leader, Speaker Joseph Michael Perera and parliamentarian Mahindananda Aluthgamage had raised a privilege issue at the mention of this harassment. Nimal Siripala de Silva also said that he would be meeting members of the United Nations Human rights committee and make complaints on two new issues, the assault on the workers at the government press and the abuse of the police force by government MPs He said that
the government had signed the international treaty to protect its
workforce and the assault at the government press is a clear violation
of the treaty. Sri
Lanka can little afford the flood havoc
Provincial and Zonal Directors had been asked to collect all information regarding the state of schools in the aftermath of the floods and relay this information to the relief unit set up at Isurupaya, Media Consultant of the unit, Ms. Chaminda Wijesinghe told The Sunday Times. The losses and damages to school buildings, desks, chairs, etc should be assessed and the information should be forwarded through the Principals to the Provincial or Zonal Directors of Education. All relief
will also be distributed through the Provincial Education Departments. Dr. Kodituwakku said the Sampath Bank had come forward with an offer to rebuild three schools nominated by the Education Ministry. The Education Minister also said that all affected school children will be provided a set of school uniforms and text books as an immediate requirement to return to school. The Ratnapura District has requested school uniforms and text books for 50,000 school children affected by the floods. Minister Kodituwakku is expected to visit the Ratnapura District tomorrow. With a view to getting other children motivated to assist their colleagues in affected areas the Ministry had sent an appeal to the schools in other parts of the island to collect relief even in the form of token contributions. Sabaragamuwa
Province Additional Director Education Wanigasekera said that 55
schools had been damaged in the Ratnapura district and of them 15
had sustained massive losses. The worst affected educational zones
are Nivithigala and Ratnapura. Southern Province Additional Director of Education N.J. Karunadasa said that there was a daily update on information regading damaged schools. In the Galle District the worst affected school was the Lankagama Kanishta Vidyalaya which was virtually wiped out and the total loss was estimated to be in the region of Rs. 2.5 million. Many other schools had also sustained massive losses totalling up to more than ten millions rupees. In the Matara District Dehigaspe Dudley Senanayake Maha Vidyalaya, Maramederipitiya Kalubowitiya Kanishta Vidyalaya and Waralla Kanishta Vidyalaya are among several schools to have suffered massive losses. The worst affected Maragodapitiya Sadath Muslim Vidyalaya with about 600 students in its roll had sustained losses amounting to 40 lakhs and Maragodapitiya Maha Vidyalaya with an estimated loss of nearly rupees 20 lakhs. In the Hambantota District the Haputhanthri Kanda Kanishta Vidyalaya had been totally destroyed. |
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