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Will they ever get to return home?
By Asif Fuard
Two months on after the tsunami disaster, thousands of victims living in temporary shelters in the south continue to grapple with such problems as the irregular distribution of food, the shortage of drinking water and the lack of sanitation facilities.

Though the government promised to give each family a weekly relief coupon of Rs. 2500 the people living in camps and temporary shelters charge that they don't get these coupons regularly. Some with large families told The Sunday Times that 8 kg of rice, 750 grams of dhal, 1 kg of sugar and half a bottle of cooking oil was not sufficient for their weekly consumption.

The Sunday Times learns that despite camps for the displaced persons now in operation for more than 10 weeks many of the camps lacked toilet facilities. One of the camps situated adjoining the Rathgama police station which accommodates more than 500 persons was forced to manage with only two toilets.

A major problem in some of the camps in the south was the lack of clean drinking water. Many people claim that even though the water board bowser was supposed to come every day, at times it does not turn up for days and as such the people are compelled to look for alternative sources. Some people in Matara said they have to use other people's wells or walk miles in search of clean water because many wells and other sources where water could be found had either been destroyed or contaminated after the tsunami.

K. Ruwani who is in one of the camps away from the Matara town told The Sunday Times that getting water has been one of her biggest problems. "We have a 1000 litre water tank which provides water to 18 families. We use this water very sparingly but it still is not enough for us. Because of this we have to walk more than two miles to get clean water", she said.

"I have two school-going children and I have to wash their clothes. But when the water bowser doesn't turn up they have to wear dirty clothes to school. We only ask the Government to sink a well or find us a permanent solution for the water problem we are facing. We can not always go and trouble others for water from their wells", she said.

When The Sunday Times visited a camp in Thalalla they found that for the inmates it was not the relief coupons that was their main problem but the poor health condition in the camp.

With the medical officer who visited the camp almost daily having suddenly stopped his visits, has resulted in many small children falling ill for want of medical attention. The inmates also complained about the Government not providing suitable food and medicine for the children.

Even though the Government provides food to some camps regularly, The Sunday Times learnt that most of the tsunami victims who lost their family members have not received the compensation promised by the Government.

An inmate of the camp in Thalalla, T.H. Punyadasa said he had written to President Chandrika Kumaratunga, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, Fisheries Minister Chandrasiri Wijeysinghe and Ports Minister Mangala Samaraweera about the many problems faced by the thirty-two families living in this camp but sadly no one has responded to their appeals so far.

"We get our weekly relief coupons but have not yet received the compensation the Government promised to pay those who lost their family members due to the tsunami. We are a fishing community we don't want to eat or drink for free we only ask the Government to rebuild our houses and give us boats", Mr. Punyadasa said.

"Many Ministers come often to this village during election time but at times such as this not a single official has visited the place. Whenever we go to meet the Government Agent to get a solution to our problems the officials say she is at a meeting. We find it hard to eat only rice and one vegetable daily. We ask them to give us boats and rebuild our houses", he said.

"Earlier medical officers visited our camp but now they have stopped coming. There are small children in the camp who are eternally falling ill. This is because no proper food or medicine is given. The Government should at least give a packet of milk for each child", Mr. Punyadasa said.

In other areas in the south too the fishermen want the government to rebuild their damaged houses and to be given boats so that they can get back to their livelihoods. Most of them claim that they don't get any support from the Government and also are against moving 100-metres away from where their homes were earlier situated.

K. Udaya Kumara who is from a camp in Devundara said he lost his wife and son and now has nothing much to look forward to except to get back home and to his job again. But the biggest problem he faces is that the Government wants him to move 100 metres away from where his coastal home was.

"They came and measured the land a few days ago. We can't go 100 metres away from the sea because we are fishermen and our source of revenue is from the sea. If we go 100 metres away it will be an inconvenience for us. The camps we are in are only temporary shelters but if we go 100 metres away it is a jungle area and not suitable for living. We are against the 100 metre idea. The government doesn't give us any relief coupons or any other aid and whatever we get is from international NGOs", he said.

S. Armugam who is an inmate of a camp in Rathgama told The Sunday Times that the Rs. 2,500 relief coupon was not distributed equitably. He said that for the past two weeks his family has been surviving on other people's donations.

"The Government only gave us dry rations for the first few weeks regularly. But now they find it hard to distribute coupons to all the families. There are some 100 families living here but everyone complains about the distribution of coupons. The Government is not allowing us to go back to our homes and rebuild them because it's near the sea", Mr. Armugam said.

The Sunday Times learns that the problem of irregular distribution of food, the lack of drinking water and the problem of sanitation are some of the common problems prevailing everywhere in the south. But the Government Agents have not taken any measures to cater to the needs and problems of these people.

The Sunday Times also learns that Hambantota being one of the worst tsunami hit areas in the south was also facing a similar situation where people even took to the streets and started writing petitions to the Premier to help them due to the irregular distribution of aid or relief coupons.

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