Sri Lanka Tsunami, On the Road to Recovery: A Fishing Vilage Recuperates
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 met a year ago.
De Silva revisits one of the livelihood grant beneficiaries she met last year -– Athula Dissanayake in Patabandimulla.
A coconut tree marks the boundary between the no built zones and the zone where construction is permitted. Photo by Chulie de Silva.
Patabandimulla, a fishing village, in Ambalangoda, suffered much damage in the December 2004 tsunami.
Two years after, the devastation is no longer visible.
Most of the houses damaged outside the buffer zone have been repaired or are being built. A coconut tree marks the boundary between the no built zones and the zone where construction is permitted.
A lady in the wooden house assures us they have been allocated new houses. However, they are waiting for water and electricity connections.
The pathway through the "no built zone" of wooden houses lead to a wide sandy beach. The newly painted boats glisten in the blazing sun. Most of the fishermen had come in with their catch earlier but a few linger on.
Despite a hard night’s work, Athula Dissanayake is trying to put a fish back into the sea to please his two sons, Dhananjaya and Niranjith. The mother Nilanthi waits patiently in the shade of a coconut tree, while the father and the sons try to put one fish back to the sea. The elder boy holds up a plastic with fish while the younger son holds up the fish he was trying to return to the sea. "He is dead,” he says.
Athula Dissanayake with his two sons, Dhananjaya and Niranjith, on the beach. Photo by Chulie de Silva.
The Dissanayakes lived within the buffer zone.
Athula Dissanayake says the only assistance he received was the livelihood grants.
He is back to fishing in a smaller boat. He earns about LKR6000 [U$60] a month – hardly enough to survive now with the high cost of living. Before the tsunami, his earnings topped LKR15000 [US$150].
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