BBCSinhala.com: ByDumeetha Luthra BBC correspondent in Colombo
Welgamage Ramani is washing her clothes. She's wrapped in a sarong; her young son stands naked, waiting his turn to be scrubbed. It's a picture of normality, except it's all happening by the roadside. It's now a familiar story: they lost everything in the tsunami; they're living in a tent. Like so many others, they don't know how long this noisy, dusty roadside will be their home. And next month, the weather will turn. “We can't stay here, because the rains are coming'' says Welgamage Ramani.
Further down the road, Anoma Priyangika and her family are sunning themselves outside their tent. Behind them is the shell of their home. They've lived there for generations, but now the government says they can't rebuild so close to the sea.
No clear policy
No-one has officially told them what will happen. “We haven't been told anything, whether we're getting help or not. Through the media, the television and newspapers, they say we are getting houses. But we're still living here.”
Future
Welgamage Ramani is washing her clothes. She's wrapped in a sarong; her young son stands naked, waiting his turn to be scrubbed. It's a picture of normality, except it's all happening by the roadside. It's now a familiar story: they lost everything in the tsunami; they're living in a tent. Like so many others, they don't know how long this noisy, dusty roadside will be their home. And next month, the weather will turn. “We can't stay here, because the rains are coming'' says Welgamage Ramani.
Further down the road, Anoma Priyangika and her family are sunning themselves outside their tent. Behind them is the shell of their home. They've lived there for generations, but now the government says they can't rebuild so close to the sea.
No clear policy
No-one has officially told them what will happen. “We haven't been told anything, whether we're getting help or not. Through the media, the television and newspapers, they say we are getting houses. But we're still living here.”
Future
The problem is: no-one is entirely sure where they can and can't rebuild their homes. The government says homes rebuilt within a hundred metres of the sea will be torn down.
Monsoon rain
Jake Sarenson is working with the NGO Project Galle 2005. He says, as the monsoon approaches, the issue is becoming a priority.
Many tsunami victims still live in the tents
“There are still quite a lot of people who are definitely in tented accommodation who are going to need to be got out quite soon. And I think the vast majority of those are the ones within the 100 metre zone. Because everyone else has been able, to some degree, to sort themselves out with some kind of roof, at the very least - whereas these people are being actively hindered, as far as I can understand it, from doing that within the 100 metres. And the understanding of what is and isn't allowed is still very, very vague on that.”
Government "slow"
Dr Pakyasoti Savaranamuttu is the Director of the think-tank The Centre of Policy Alternatives in Colombo. He says the government is working too slowly.
“It is going on three months since the disaster. There has been no legislation with regard to disaster management, with regard to land and property issues that have arisen out of the tsunami disaster, and indeed with setting up a new institution or authority to rebuild the nation. So, in terms of the architecture and structures of governance to cope with this, I think there have been a number of shortcomings.”
Buffer zone
Ravindra Prsad is not waiting. He has already rebuilt his home within the 100-metre buffer zone; and now he's helping his uncle build his. “They're staying between 100 and 125 metres from the sea. The government says that, even if they build the houses, they will destroy them. But the opposition says: no need to destroy the houses; they can build them here.”
Driving along the coast, what's really visible now is that the tents that were put up after the tsunami are now interspersed with wooden shacks. They're not meant to be there; they're too close to the sea. But the alternative for the people is to wait for months in the airless tents before they can move into new homes.
Long wait
Waiting in line for food; waiting for information on housing - it's frustrating and tiring for the victims. “They have high expectations, because the government has nurtured those expectations. That almost paralyses them in some way from getting on and doing things for themselves. And then there is this confusion with regard to other rules, regulations, laws which say where you can build and where you cannot build. The frustration, the despair is translating into anger. And so the government needs to move fast, with a clear, cogent, coherent policy, "says Dr. Saravanamuttu.
The government is facing a huge challenge. Its rationale behind creating a buffer zone for safety may be entirely justified. But at the moment, people are still uncertain how long they'll live in tents, what they can themselves do and where and when their new homes will be ready. For them, the problem still lies unresolved.
