Sri Lanka Tsunami, On the Road to Recovery: Salzburg Village in Galle Sri Lanka
December 22, 2006 -- The World Bank's Chulie de Silva visited tsunami survivors a year ago to see how they were moving on with their lives. Now, as the two-year mark approaches, she revisits some of the survivors she interviewed a year ago.
“Community consultation ” was one of the guiding principles for the reconstruction process.
De Silva revisits one of the community leaders she met last year – K. G. Nadeeka Dilan, a three wheeler mechanic from Galle – who suffered great losses and underwent great changes because of the tsunami.
The last blue tent in the tsunami shelter camp near the Devata Bay in Galle. Photo by Chulie de Silva.
One solitary blue tent is left in the tsunami shelter camp near the Devata Bay in Galle in Sri Lanka’s Southern Province.
K.G. Nadeeka Dilan, the three-wheeler “tuk tuk” mechanic, played a leading role in helping his tsunami-affected community to settle in this camp. This past year, he moved to a relocated house as did the rest of the camp residents.
The Galle harbour area, where the Devata Bay, is sleepily calm, except for the roadwork post-tsunami construction.
“We are all brand new and washed clean after the tsunami,” Dilan says wearing a crisp white shirt and neat jeans, as he shows us his two-bedroom house on a former palm oil estate.
A solitary majestic palm oil tree stands guard outside his house. A small shed houses his signature red three-wheeler and motorbike. Bright green plastic chairs sit next to a colorful fish tank on the small verandah leading to the house. Inside the house, a photo of his much loved daughter lost in the tsunami takes pride of place.
Nearly a year ago, Dilan’s and 77 other families were settled in this village called Walahanduwa, 8 km from the Galle town. The pink-colored neatly built houses were financed by an Austrian NGO. Dilan’s address is “Salzburg village.”
Nadeeka Dilan and his family. A portrait of the deceased daughter is prominently displayed above the television set. Photo by Chulie de Silva.
“Our house was within the 100 meter buffer zone," Dilan says. "Had we lived outside this zone, we would have been able to develop ourselves more because all the assistance to rebuild went to people who lived outside.”
People like him, who lived within the buffer zone, were the most affected, he explains.
Out of the 78 families relocated in this estate, 73 are Buddhist and five are Christian. Some are fishermen, some are masons, and some daily laborers who work on construction sites.
“This land we received here is so far away from the main road, it is not economically beneficial to us," Dilan says. "People do not come this far to visit my three-wheeler workshop. I have to go to the people with my tools.”
But wide telephone coverage and the expansion of mobile telephone networks permit Dilan to go to his clients' places and do the repairs.
The houses have water, electricity and land telephone lines, but the roads are not yet lit and there is no post office. Dilan’s three-wheeler hires and the business from the workshop brings in an income of LKR20,000 [$200] a month.
Nadeeka Dilan's wife in front of their house. Photo by Chulie de Silva.
“I have been able to rebuild my life and livelihood and I have taken some loans and bought things that I need to lead a comfortable life. With my income I can repay the loans. He is focused on buying a van to run a school transport service. “There is a demand for this and I know I can increase my income,” Dilan says.
However, getting a loan to buy the vehicle without any collateral is still a problem. “We have the house but we have no deeds yet to give to a Bank as collateral for a loan,” he says.
Last year his heartbreaking story of losing his daughter and 13 of his close relatives touched us deeply. Throughout this year I had kept in touch and watched him as he dried his tears and bravely moved on. Recently, the shoulder he injured in the tsunami got dislocated again, but these are all minor impediments to a young man who is anxious to fast track his life to success.
Many like him are moving on setting them what are for all purposes achievable targets of economic prosperity.
Having built the houses back better after the tsunami the next phase should be to see how we can build the people back better – how we can support them to get loans, build capacity -- as in Dilan’s words putting them on track to become first class citizens of Sri Lanka.
RSS