The people displaced from the Wanni and settled in welfare centres in Jaffna are undergoing hardships with the rains affecting them and the facilities provided to them yet to improve.
Last week following a downpour which lasted an hour they were faced with severe difficulties. To keep their belongings from getting wet they had to keep them on overturned buckets. Those who had infants had to keep them on improvised cots made from sarees hung from the roof while most of the adults could not get a proper night’s sleep, they said.
Nearly 4,000 people stay at this welfare centre. They complained that drinking water was a problem for them as the water bowser comes only after 9 a.m. No facilities are available to get hot water as lighting a fire is taboo as a precaution against a fire breaking out.
There are queues for everything from going to the toilet to taking a bath, they said.
Though living in the information era these people are unable to access even a local newspaper. |
E-mail