Cablegate: Sri Lanka - Earthquake and Tsunamis: Usaid/Dart

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 000725

SIPDIS

STATE ALSO PASS TO USAID
USAID/W FOR A/AID ANDREW NATSIOS, JBRAUSE
DCHA/OFDA KISAACS, GGOTTLIEB, MMARX, RTHAYER, BDEEMER
AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA
DCHA/FFP FOR LAUREN LANDIS
DCHA DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR WILLIAM GARVELINK
ANE DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR MARK WARD
BANGKOK FOR OFDA SENIOR REGIONAL ADVISOR TOM DOLAN
KATHMANDU FOR OFDA REGIONAL ADVISOR WILLIAM BERGER
GENEVA FOR USAID KYLOH
ROME PASS FODAG
NSC FOR MELINE
CDR USPACOM FOR J3/J4/POLAD
USEU PASS USEC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID AEMR PREL PGOV CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA - EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMIS: USAID/DART
SITREP #20

REF: Colombo 646
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Summary
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1. The USAID/Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) field
officer (FO) and USAID/Colombo Humanitarian Assistance Program
Manager (HAPM) traveled to eastern Sri Lanka from April 6 to 9
to monitor USAID/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance
(OFDA)-funded programs and review the progress of tsunami
recovery efforts. USAID staff met with representatives from
Catholic Relief Services (CRS), World Vision (WVI), Sri Lanka
Red Cross (SLRC), GOAL, CARE, and Mercy Corps during the
course of this field visit. All of these agencies are
involved in tsunami clean-up projects or construction of
transitional housing. Non-governmental organization (NGO)-
sponsored clean-up projects appear to be winding down in
eastern Sri Lanka, although some cash-for-work initiatives
will continue for the time being to remove remaining debris
from areas affected by the tsunami. In reference to
transitional housing projects, NGOs cited the same constraints
reported earlier (reftel) that have retarded progress in
moving displaced persons from emergency shelters into
appropriate shelters for extended stays: i.e. shortage of raw
materials, delays in clearing construction materials through
ports, rapidly rising costs of material and labor, confusion
over Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) policy on rebuilding in
the designated coastal buffer zone, and difficulty in
identifying appropriate sites for location of transitional
housing. However, NGOs are working hard to find solutions to
some of the challenges facing the transitional housing sector
and substantial progress is being made. End summary.

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Batticaloa District
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2. According to a recent report from the U.N. Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the pace of
construction of transitional shelters in Batticaloa District
remains slow. Just over 9,000 semi-permanent shelters are
currently required in total in the district. Of these, some
1,600 have been constructed through the first week of April.
The Shelter Task Force concluded this week that the main
reasons for the slow progress continues to be the lack of
sufficient supply of construction materials and skilled labor,
the wish of beneficiaries to immediately move from temporary
into permanent shelter, as well as the limited capacity of the
Urban Development Authority (UDA) and the Survey Department.

3. CRS re-iterated that there are 9,000 families in need of
shelter in Batticaloa District. CRS plans to build
transitional shelter for 2,300 families in the district.
Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) is
the head of the Shelter Task Force in Batticaloa with 20-30
NGOs participating in shelter construction projects.

4. The CRS representative in Batticaloa mentioned that the
lack of building materials has hindered their progress in
building the 2,300 transitional shelters. There are shortages
of timber, high-quality plastic, and cadjan (matted palm
leaves to form thatch). CRS has imported timber from
countries in the region, but recent changes in the customs
regulations have slowed down clearance from Sri Lanka's ports.
CRS does expect to clear a load of timber through customs by
the second week of April, and this will provide them with
enough material to construct 2,000 housing units (1,000 of
them in Batticaloa District). CRS is also managing to procure
some quantities of timber within Sri Lanka in order to boost
its production of transitional shelters. The arrival of
Oxfam's 12,000 - 13,000 cubic feet of timber from Australia in
May 2005 will support CRS efforts to build transitional
housing as a portion of this consignment will be dedicated to
the CRS program.

5. USAID staff visited one of the sites in Batticaloa
District where CRS is currently building transitional
shelters. Construction was moving quickly with over 25 units
already in place accompanied by latrines and washing
facilities that had been built with support from the U.N.
Children's Fund (UNICEF). The team interviewed several
residents of the transitional shelters, and all seemed to
appreciate the transition from emergency shelters to the solid-
structure single-family houses.

6. While stopping by one unit under construction, USAID
staff learned that the frame of the house can be erected
within a matter of a few hours with the entire unit completed
in less than four days. Neighbors frequently are helping each
other with the construction of transitional shelters.

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Ampara District
---------------------

7. USAID staff met with representatives of World Vision
(WVI) in Kalmunai where final distributions of USAID/OFDA-
funded hygiene kits had just been completed. WVI's field
officer noted that the hygiene kits were generally well
received. With the completion of the distribution of
USAID/OFDA-financed hygiene kits, WVI will likely continue
distributing additional hygiene kits to tsunami-affected
displaced persons in camps in Ampara District, for the time
being, with funds from other donors. The lack of access of
many displaced households to adequate income-generating
activities serves as the basis for WVI's decision to continue
with the distribution of hygiene kits.

8. GOAL originally planned to construct 2,500 transitional
shelter units when drafting their initial proposal to
USAID/OFDA. However, given the rising costs for materials and
labor required per unit, the upgrading of standards for
transitional shelter mandated by the GOSL, and the appearance
of additional NGOs who are building transitional shelter, GOAL
has decided to revise its target from 2,500 units down to
1,200 units of transitional housing. With the cost of each
shelter going up significantly due to inflation, GOAL will
have to reduce the number of units produced if it is to
maintain the standards of quality set by the GOSL, donors, UN
agencies, and NGOs.

9. GOAL field officers noted that they had experienced
difficulties in the allocation of land by the GOSL for the
construction of transitional shelter. In an effort to
overcome this challenge, staff from GOAL has been busy
visiting the owners of open plots of land to request
permission to build transitional shelters for the tsunami-
displaced households. GOAL has achieved some success in
finding sites for construction, mostly on small plots that
permit the construction of under a dozen shelters. [Comment:
The creation of the GOSL's coastal buffer zone that prohibits
the re-building of damaged/destroyed housing stock within 200
meters of the shore has reduced the options for construction
of transitional housing. Areas in the seaside towns and
villages of Ampara District are relatively congested leaving
little property (aside from the coastal buffer zone area)
where transitional shelters can be constructed, thereby
slowing down the process of moving displaced families from
emergency shelters to sturdier, more weather-proof structures.
End Comment.]

10. The USAID team traveled to Akkaraipattu in Ampara
District to meet with representatives from CARE. CARE staff
explained that they had just completed a debris clearance
project funded by USAID/OFDA. CARE's project utilized cash-
for-work to employ 1,500 people to remove rubble for 67
villages in the surrounding area.

11. CARE noted that they are planning a distribution of
emergency relief supplies to 2,500 households in and around
Akkaraipattu. The distribution of emergency relief supplies
has been somewhat complicated with many NGOs arriving in the
area, but not coordinating their work with other agencies.
Many NGOs performed distributions of emergency relief supplies
without conducting assessments or registering their
beneficiaries. In order to avoid duplication, CARE has
registered their beneficiaries and sought out groups that have
not yet received emergency relief supplies. CARE is focusing
particularly on tsunami-affected households outside of camps
since these groups are often overlooked by inexperienced aid
agencies that flock to easy-to-find camps for distribution of
their relief supplies.

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Aragum Bay/Pottuvil
------------------

12. USAID staff traveled from Pottuvil to Aragum Bay over the
newly-reopened bridge crossing the bay. The Indian and Sri
Lankan militaries collaborated with the Road Development
Authority to finish the temporary bridge structure that opened
to traffic on May 10.

13. USAID staff met with representatives from Mercy Corps in
Aragum Bay. Mercy Corps staff provided a tour of their
community clean-up project in this tourist-dependent zone that
had been developed in collaboration with local groups
including the Aragum Bay Tourism Association.

14. Local officials in Pottuvil requested that Mercy Corps
provide transitional housing for 28 Tamil households displaced
by the tsunami. Mercy Corps reported that these families have
been pressured by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
to avoid moving into transitional housing on sites near the
Special Task Force (STF) bases. Mercy Corps did identify a
suitable site in Pottuvil, and they are now building
transitional housing units for four families displaced by the
tsunami.

SIPDIS

LUNSTEAD

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