Living amidst debris once again

These survivors of the 2004 tsunami were still struggling to get on with their lives in a temporary camp in Ratmalana, when a fire destroyed what little they had

The tsunami was the worst tragedy one could imagine and almost three years later, still living in temporary shelters, these families were ill-prepared to face further trauma. But they were not spared. Once again, their houses have been levelled to the ground; their belongings destroyed.

On Wednesday, some 31 houses located in a temporary tsunami camp in Anura Mawatha, Borupana, Ratmalana were destroyed by a fire caused by an electrical short circuit. When The Sunday Times visited the scene, it was a dismal heap of debris. Bits and pieces of everything- clothes, pots and pans, school books and uniforms lay on the ground while wooden planks were all that was left of their partially burnt houses.

Walking in to what was once Lakshman Suranjith’s house, we see a burnt statue of Lord Buddha. “We must hand this over to the temple,” Lakshman’s son repeatedly tells his grief-stricken father who can do little but gaze at what’s left of their belongings. “I pluck coconuts to earn a living. Yesterday, while I was working in a nearby house, I could see the smoke rising from this area. The house owners informed me that it was from the camp and I rushed back, but by that time everything was gone,” he recalls with tears.

“My children can’t go to school; they are without books and uniforms. We are only left with what we were wearing at that moment,” says Lakshman.

Following the tsunami tragedy, the Red Cross and the Sevalanka Foundation built these temporary shelters and gave the families some essential household items such as cooking utensils, beds, etc. The rest, was what they bought with their hard earned money. There are 135 such temporary shelters in this camp. The families believe the fire occurred due to the defective electrical system in the campsite where electricity was supplied to all the houses through a single cable which ran from one house to another. Similar incidents of slight power short circuits had occurred before although they had not resulted in a fire, say residents. “When it happens, someone turns off the circuit, and no action was taken by the authorities despite our complaints,” they say bitterly.

Sujeewa Peries complains that her daughter who is six months pregnant nearly got electrocuted when trying to switch on a light a week ago. Her husband, a carpenter died on the spot inside the house one and half years ago while working, again due to some defect in the electrical system, she says.

“It is innocent people like us who have to suffer,” the families say adding that ironically, the same officials were quick to halt the power supply at one point on the grounds that there was an outstanding bill of Rs. 86,000 to be paid.

The families are now reduced to borrowing clothes from those who were not affected by the fire, while food is being supplied by the government.

“Some of the government officers who came said they would assist us to rebuild these houses and till then they would try to relocate us in another tsunami camp. We refused to go because there are about 70 odd families living there already and we know of the possible water and sanitary problems that we would have to face if we go there,” they said.