Matara tsunami housing program to provide shelter to the displaced

by L. S. Palansuriya, Deputy General Manager, NHDA

Over 8,000 houses in Weligama, Matara, Devinuvara, Dickwella in the Matara district have been damaged by the tsunami that devastated the region. State organizations, NGOs, other organizations and individuals have over the past two months launched various programmes in the Matara district to provide shelter to over 11,000 displaced families enabling them to lead purposeful lives. Displaced families in the Matara district are ready to recommence their livelihoods in a house of their own. We toured the area to assess the situation.

The majority of the displaced families have spent the first few weeks following the tsunami in temporary welfare camps set up in public places including schools and temples. These families are now being sent to temporary housing camps with semi permanent structures and better facilities.

There are several such housing camps in the Matara district. The National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) has provided plans and technical assistance to build over 400 such housing units. Prominent among these projects are the Maliyadde Vijitha Vidyalaya Camp with 50 housing units, Kamburugamuwa Samudratheera Vihara camp with 70 units and Talaramba Indrasara Vihara Camp with 50 units and Weligama Pelena Camp with 50 housing units.

The temporary housing camp at Hittetiya Raja Maha Vihara completed in a short period of two months has 111 housing units. Temporary housing camps at Wellamadama and Deiyandara Koratuwa in Matara also were constructed under the direction of the NHDA. The fact that most of the temporary housing camps have been located in public places like the village temple makes it easy for the displaced families to rejoin the main social stream in a more productive manner.

These temporary houses constructed under the direction of the NHDA occupy an area of 400 sq. feet each and have bedrooms and a kitchen. Floors are cemented and the sides are cladded with wooden planks or corrugated sheets while roofing sheets are used to cover the roofs. Every unit is supplied with water and electricity and have common toilets. The units are constructed in a manner to facilitate occupation for even a year at a stretch. The occupants in these housing camps are provided with dry rations, cooked meals and health facilities together with other community facilities by various NGOs. The services of 'Seva Lanka Foundation' merits special mention.

The displaced families in these camps are apparently getting away gradually from the mental trauma received at the loss of their family members and other physical belongings and are getting accustomed to leading normal lives.

This has been made possible by the fact that these camps are located centering religious places and are receiving at least the minimum requirements of their daily needs. They are now hopeful of their life in the future. They are now inclined to view the disaster as a challenge and are determined to make a success of their future life.

Running parallel to this programme of providing temporary shelter to the displaced, is another programme that has been launched under the direction of the government to provide permanent houses to those families. The NHDA provides the plans and technical guidance in this instance too. With the selection of the blocks of land, the potential occupants too will be identified and a special programme will be carried out by the Authority to get them involved in the project. NHDA has shown that it is important to construct at least a temporary house initially in the block of land selected and get the concerned family to reside there. This will enable them to participate in the construction of their house. It will also enable the use of material from the temporary house in the construction of the new building.

The occupants in these temporary housing camps are persons who have undergone a devastating experience of the ravaging tsunami that has shaken their lives. We met E. A. P. Sunil who had been a fisherman in Totamune in Matara. This is what he had to say. "We lost all our belongings due to the tsunami. All our lifetime earnings were lost within seconds along with our house and the household items. Worst of all wss our two children losing all their education materials. However, a ray of hope of a new life has dawned in our minds because of these housing camps. I have a block of land in Meddewatte. I hope to build a house there with government assistance and start life all over again."

Next, we met Ganesha Rajika who is an employee of Ayurveda Institute in Colombo. She had been a resident of Periyamulla, Matara. "Fate is a strange thing" she said. "We came from Colombo and had to face this calamity on the 26th of December. I was washed away into the sea and before I was rescued with difficulty, I had gulped a lot of sea water. We lost everything and only our lives remain. Everything happens to mankind. With that in mind we decided to settle down in this temporary house and start life again."

Deputy Minister of Housing and Construction Industry, Eastern Province Education and Irrigation Development, Chandrasena Gajadheera, personally supervises the construction of houses for the displaced families. As a resident of Matara District, he is with personal experience of the tsunami destruction. He has been continuously moving around with the displaced persons since the Tsunami destruction and inquiring into the progress of the housing programme.

According to him, the government has planned to provide every displaced family with a permanent house of 500 sq. ft. A sum of rupees five hundred thousand has been estimated for each of the houses to be constructed. Every such house will be given financial assistance by the government and credit facilities at very low interest rates. Gajadheera points out that besides the systematic implementation of a planned scheme to provide permanent houses, the temporary housing units have also been suitably constructed for the displaced persons to live in.

According to Gajadheera, the NHDA with 25 years of experience in the field of housing development has implemented a programme within a very short period to provide houses to these families at a time when the country is faced with an unparalleled disaster. In the provision of facilities to these families under the technical guidance of the NHDA, an important role has been played by several NGOs and among those the activities of 'Seva Lanka' Foundation deserves special consideration.

The damage caused by a disaster of the magnitude of the tsunami cannot be amended in a short period. The reconstruction of the damaged houses and other repairs and the provision of facilities including houses to the displaced families should be done under a phased development programme.

It is being implemented despite various obstacles. It is a collective action. The private sector, NGOs, other organizations and individuals should make their contributions under the direction of the government. Time has come to get the affected families actively involved in the programme.

We who toured the Matara District could observe some form of activity in all such areas. Its productiveness can be the success of the Tsunami housing project that is to be implemented. It is the expectation of those affected by the tsunami in the Matara District as well as all the Sri Lankans.