Boston.com / News / World / Asia / Fishermen raise concerns on post-tsunami housing: "But it is not clear that cement and steel apartments built one mile inland are the most appropriate housing for Sri Lankan fishermen who have traditionally lived in leafy settlements by coconut groves on the seafront. 'Their community life is structured completely differently, and it'd be an alien way of life for them,' said Azra Jafferjee, an economist at the Center for Poverty Analysis in Colombo. 'You can't transplant someone who's lived -- even if in a shanty -- in a place they're used to just coming out of their door and chatting with their neighbors, into an apartment block, where they're completely removed from that kind of personal contact.' Though Jafferjee said the government's goal to move people away from the sea is understandable, she suggested that the government and aid agencies consult closely with local communities."
Monday, January 31, 2005