Rising from the TSUNAMI

Uvindu ILLEPERUMA in Galle

Daily News visits the lost territory where the fierce sea betrayed the lives and properties of the people.

It was December 26th 2004. The day had had its peculiar importance being a Poya day and the day after Christmas. Above all it was Boxing Day on which Sri Lanka was destined to face the ever most glaring calamity - TSUNAMI - which had never been expected by any one at the time.

It was a normal early morning when disaster struck. Tidal waves one as high as 30 feet hit the coastal belt of Sri Lanka decimating many areas into junks of rubble. Most of the people whose bread and butter was fishing was the worst affected. Angry waves took about 40000 lives - the largest number of death toll recorded in Sri Lanka owing to a natural disaster. Up to 25th of December 2004 the Sea which had played a friendly role was denounced to be a villain.

AFTER 5 YEARS: The weeping, woes, frustration displayed on the faces of the victims at the time is no more. Normalcy has returned to many. It is no lost territory. Now it is paradise regained.

As a nation Sri Lanka summoned its inner strength to rise from the ashes in no time though some of the infrastructure rendered under the auspices of certain NGOs and INGOs raised the eyebrows of not only the victims but also of the international community.

There were a few instances and proof of shoddy work in many areas in the rebuilding process but there is ample proof of well planned and sturdy structures that have been put up. All in all the general picture was a happy one, taking into consideration the volume of work and challenge that lay before them.

Some of the views

Nelson de Silva - In Piyadigama Daddalla who has unforgettable memories of the incident said, ‘My house was badly damaged. We were in utter desperation. When someone loses the one and only shelter he or she has the misery felt cannot be told in words. All the inmates of my family were lucky enough to escape from the waves. That’s why I have mentioned, only my house was damaged, not the home.’

Heaving a sigh of relief he revealed the horrible experience he had to face. ‘The wave was about 20 feet high. It is now a miracle to me how we escaped death. To think that we are still living is a dream to me when I recall the disaster which took everything except life.’

Now we have a house of our own. The government gave one of its lands for the NGO called Sed Galle to build houses for us. Now we are living in a house built by them. But we lost some of our friends and relatives. If they were fortunate enough to escape death they might be living the way we live now with happiness forgetting the dark chapter we already passed, Nelson de Silva said with tears in his eyes.

Nelson de Silva is a government servant at the Archaeological department, Fort, Galle. His daughters are engaged in turning out carpets and bed sheets. ‘We cannot expect everything from the government itself. It is not our responsibility as the citizens. We should have our own dedication if we are to stand on our own, one of her daughters said criticizing some of people who idled till the Government did everything for them.’

T.H Pradeed Nishantha Silva remembered how the then prime minister of the country, now President Mahinda Rajapaksa assured him a quick recovery from their misery.

‘He was on his way to Colombo from Hambanthota. In Mahamodara, Galle there was an electrical Pylon fallen across the road blocking the traffic. So he came out of his vehicle to talk to the people till the road was cleared. I asked from him what will happen to us. ‘Putha we will do our best to bring normalcy to your lives he assured,’ remembered Pradeep.

Our housing scheme was in a pool of mud. The late Minister of Highways Jeyaraj Fernandopulle constructed the avenues of the scheme within three months as he promised, remembered Silva Family.

We were at home when the waves came. My house was situated some 500 meters away from the beach. My house was not affected. But my father was in the beach cleaning the boat. Usually we don’t go for fishing on Poya day. I got the news that my father was missing. But he was lucky enough to escape. We lost all our paraphernalia, K.P. Ravindra, a fisherman at Kapparathota, Waligama said.

When asked about the situation now, he said ‘Now things are Ok. We are given fishing gear and we go about our job as we did. As the government and some NGOs provided more boats and fishing gear the fishing harvest is gradually growing by leaps and bounds.’

‘I can give you a kilo of tuna for Rs.150’ Ravindra said in a business mood laughing.

Jayathilaka Pujitha Gunawardane a hotelier who runs ‘Beach Inns’ restaurant in Madiha, Matara area situated in close proximity to the famous Polhena Beach said, ‘the hotel building was totally devastated by Tsunami. But I had will power and the fortitude to begin the process again. My frequent customers helped me a lot financially. They stood behind me like a shadow. When I went to take my insurance my then insurer said that I hadn’t insured my hotel for a Tsunami. We never heard about Tsunami till it struck and there was no such insurance coverage here. I should remember People Bank. I have been their customer for 25 years. They loaned me Rs.1.5 million to rebuild the hotel for which I’m grateful.’

“When tsunami hit the hotel, it had only 14 rooms. Now it has 18 rooms”, he said proudly.

Commenting on the present day situation he expressed that with the conclusion of the three decade war foreigners are coming to Sri Lanka freely without any fear or mistrust.’ As the President has given the leadership to the war and decimated terrorism from Sri Lankan soil tourists can repose their faith in Sri Lanka. When a foreigner selects a country to visit he or she always contemplates whether the political situation of the country is good or bad.

Now in Sri Lanka things are going smoothly. Hordes of tourists are coming from countries like Canada, USA, Australia. We can expect more tourist arrivals in the time to come,’ he said optimistically.