Still longing for a place to call home

~ Three years on after the tsunami - victims still dwell in harsh living conditions

As the third anniversary of the tsunami approaches those affected by the devastation are still unable to come to terms with the tragedy. Those who’ve been relocated in post tsunami housing schemes throughout the southern province are already a forgotten community. Speaking to The Sunday Times they expressed their disappointment over the housing arrangements received after living in temporary shelters and tents undergoing numerous hardships since that fateful day.

Most of these housing schemes are located in Kosgoda, Ahungalla, Balapitiya , Ambalangoda, and container houses in Godagama Telwatta , Galagodawatta , Ratgama, Gonapinuwala, Walahanduwa in the Galle district Midigama in Matara district and Hangama in Hambantota. The residents in these areas pointed out many shortcomings to The Sunday Times during a visit to the area.

The Hangama tsunami housing scheme in Hambantota also known as the ‘Hungarian-Sri Lanka Friendship Village’ donated by the People of Hungary has already been abandoned as the houses were unsuitable for human habitation. Built on on government land the scheme is now covered by creepers.

The tiles, timber , door and window frames for building have been stolen, while residents pointed out that this was a wastage of foreign funds, they said the relevant authorities had not taken any action to protect such materials purchased to construct these 100 houses.

An official attached to the District Secretariat of Hambantota referring to the housing scheme revealed that the Hungarian – Sri Lanka Friendship Association without following government specifications had spent only Rs. 200,000 to construct a house.“Their plan was to increase the number of houses while spending the minimum amount of money for a house. According to government estimates a minimum of Rs. 500,000 was to be spent on the construction of a single house,” he pointed out.

He said that during a discussion with the representatives of the Hungarian- Sri Lanka Friendship Association , the local representatives had stated that their organization lacked funds to improve the houses. The Hambantota District Secretariat is now making arrangements to renovate some of these houses and to hand them over to the families of Police officers of the Hambantota Police station. This is to prevent the further stealing of items found in these houses, an official attached to the Hambantota District Secretariat said. But, sadly in the process the actual tsunami victims who desperately need housing will be overlooked.

For the foundation laying ceremony held for a housing scheme in Galagodawatta in Galle where houses were donated by the Dharmawijaya Foundation in the U.S. many foreigners participated including famous Holywood artistes. It was revealed that even prisoners in the United States donated money for these housing units.

A consultant attached to the Ministry of Urban Development during a surprise visit to the area detected that the foundation trenches for the houses were less than 4 inches in depth. Now after three years since the tsunami , a majority of the people living at the Galagodawatta housing scheme have had to undergo numerous problems.

The shallow concrete cylinders used as toilet pits are already filled and walls have already begun to crack. The roofs are leaking and houses in the low lying areas have been submerged due to heavy rains and a lack of a suitable drainage system. Majority of the sub contractors handling the actual construction work employed inexperienced masons and carpenters.

Of the 1,000 completed houses more than 50 recipients have left for other housing schemes. Due to a lack of coordination of the distribution of houses many instances exist where one person has received nearly three houses from three different locations. Godagama in the Galle district is one of the worst affected coastal villages and located in close proximity to Peraliya. It is a common sight to see displaced villagers living in the container houses donated by the government of Spain.

There are more than 20 container houses at Godagama and Telwatta. It is reported that more than a hundred such container houses have been dumped in a container yard at Peliyagoda. During the handing over ceremony it was revealed that a container house was worth about Rs. 30, 000. However the container houses had not been handed over to the land owners for nearly six months and the villagers had made numerous visits to Galle and the houses were finally handed over when displaced villagers broke open the houses.

Although the container houses reached Sri Lanka with numerous household goods including an AC unit for each house villagers complained that they received only an empty iron box. Having opted for these container houses, recipients of the container houses lost the chance of obtaining a normal house built at the tsunami housing schemes. The occupants of these container houses at Godagama only want the relevant authorities to visit their village and take necessary action to remove the containers. Being driven to desparation occupants are trying to dismantle the containers and to sell the metal sheets.

The Sirikadurawatta tsunami housing scheme, is another project that lies in ruins. The walls of all the 165 houses under this scheme located close to Dodanduwa in Galle are beyond repair. An organization called ‘Next’ donated these houses.

In the construction of these houses certain organizations experimented with certain newly invented building materials. The houses made out of pre-fabricated cement mixture could collapse at any moment.The Chief incumbant of Sri Vijayarama Temple , Ven. Dodanduwe Wimalarathana Thera said at the moment only a 100 houses were occupied and over 50 houses were abandoned.

These houses located in a section of the Sirikandura Coconut estate is home to a majority of the fisherfolk who live by the sea. They lamented that they found it extremely difficult to continue their livelihood as the housing scheme was located too far away from the sea. A majority of the tsunami displaced families at the Sirikadura housing scheme are below the poverty line while some families find it difficult to obtain even their daily meals.