The Tsunami, One Year Later: More Than A Million Still Homeless in Sri Lanka

On the anniversary of the December 26 tsunami, the Sri Lankan government called for two minutes silence nationwide in “commemoration of the dead,” for prayers by people of all religions and for the organised giving of alms. Given that many tsunami survivors are still living in squalid temporary accommodation, the whole exercise was a sham.

On the day, President Mahinda Rajapakse attended an official function along with diplomats, the military top brass and religious leaders at Peraliya, where the huge waves had swept over a train, killing 1,500 passengers as well as about 1,000 villagers. None of the locals attended because the entire area was fenced off and heavily guarded.

Rajapakse declared that “under his personal direction,” he would “carry forward with new and greater energy the task of building the homes and other property”. He said nothing concrete about the promises made during his election campaign last month and was compelled to obliquely admit that the victims of the tsunami had not received “maximum justice”.

The president devoted a considerable part of his speech to hailing the role of the military. Surrounded by the heads of the army, navy and airforce, he praised soldiers who had sacrificed their meals to feed Tamils and “even saved the lives of members of the LTTE”. In reality, the official relief operation was a shambles from the outset. If not for the dedicated work of many volunteers, who spontaneously stepped in to help the victims, the death toll would have been far higher.

According to the World Bank Tsunami Fact Sheet on Sri Lanka released on December 15, the disaster killed 35,322 people and injured another 21,411 people. Over half a million people—516,150—were internally displaced and some 150,000 people lost their livelihoods. In all, 88,544 houses were destroyed or badly damaged. Around 200,000 students have suffered as a result of the destruction or damage to 166 schools, 4 universities, and 18 vocational training centres. The tsunami destroyed or damaged 97 health facilities, including hospitals, dispensaries and health care centres.

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Last week a WSWS reporting team visited Maruthamunai, one of the villages in Sri Lanka most affected by the tsunami last December. It is situated in the Amparai district, about 260 kilometres from Colombo in the war-ravaged eastern province.

Houses in the village were previously built within 7.5 metres of the sea, but the huge tsunami waves swept nearly one kilometre inland. Now, as far as 250 metres from the shore, there are only house foundations.

The villagers were in a subdued mood. A year later, not a single permanent shelter has been built. Those who were displaced live in transitional shelters, their own partially damaged houses or with relatives.

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