OCHA Situation Report
Sri Lanka
3 - 9 December 2005


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Overall Situation

Philip Alston, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or 
arbitrary executions of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights 
who was in Sri Lanka recently, on 7 December called upon the parties to 
the conflict in Sri Lanka to take more determined action to tackle the 
killings that have plagued the country in recent days.

As part of an agreement signed by UNDP on 6 December they will match 
their staff contribution of US$ 245,477 for tsunami victims bringing the 
total funding for the United Nations Staff Relief Committee for tsunami 
victims programme to almost US$ 500,000. One new programme will help 
restore livelihoods in Sri Lanka, including marginalized groups such as 
handloom weavers in the East and lace makers in the South.

Restricted humanitarian access was reported in Muthur, Trincomalee for 
some ACF staff when tension prevailed in Kinniya.

Humanitarian access to the north-eastern part of Ampara District was 
restricted 5-7 December and as a result the Division Coordination 
Meeting in Akkararaipattu and the Division Coordination and the 
Permanent House Lead Agency Meetings in Pottuvil and the psycho-social 
meeting was cancelled and livelihoods meeting was cancelled. Meanwhile 
heavy vehicles still can not pass through the bridge to Arugam Bay, 
Pottuvil Division

Sri Lanka received its first international credit rating, paving the way 
for bond sales to help finance its recovery from two decades of civil 
war and the tsunami.  Fitch Ratings assigned a BB- rating, three levels 
lower than investment grade. The rating is the same as that of Indonesia 
and Brazil. Credit ratings are used by fund managers to determine 
investment risk and the amount of interest payments they demand.

Health

Health authorities have started their awareness program on Malaria and 
Dengue in the Trincomalee District focusing on Town and Gravets and 
Kinniya.

The Infection Control Unit, Matara Base Hospital reports that the number 
of dengue patients have increased last week.

Water and sanitation

In Ampara a principle decision was reached for all new latrines to be 
constructed with at least steps and handles as to increase 
accessibility.

The Hiththatiya Raja Maha Vihara and Kithulewela camps in Matara 
Division have been water logged for a long period of time after the 
rains. Sewalanka is preparing temporary drainage.

Non-food items and shelter

UNDP handed over 63 tractors and trailers to local authorities in 
tsunami-affected districts on December 8 as part of a resource and 
skills enhancement project to help better handle post disaster 
reconstruction activities and needs. This is part of a UNDP effort to 
strengthen local networks in post tsunami recovery activities under 
'Capacity Development of Recovery Programme' (CADREP) with funding from 
the Norwegian and German governments.

In Trincomalee, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) announced that 
tsunami-related issues could fall under the Ministry of Reconstruction 
and the possibility of securing funds for the care and maintenance of 
transitional shelter sites with the appointment of a coordinator in 
January, the exact amount is unknown. NRC will hold the first training 
session of Trincomalee camp managers on 19 and 20 December for 17 site 
managers. NRC together with OCHA Trincomalee will hold a workshop for 
agencies dealing with the care and maintenance of shelters sites early 
January, where SPHERE standards, community mobilization, guiding 
principles on IDPs and guiding principles for care and maintenance will 
be discussed and addressed. OCHA Trincomalee has circulated the SPHERE 
standards among agencies and the viability of an NRC assessment tool 
will be looked into for use in camps. Meanwhile it is learnt that around 
200 people are living in tents in the Jamiliya area in Trincomalee.

The status of doner driven and owner driven houses in the Matara 
district is as follows:


Donor Driven Houses (Within Buffer Zone)

|----------+-----------+--------+---------+-------------|
|    DS    |  Housing  |Work in |Completed| Handed over |
| Division |Requirement|Progress|         |     to      |
|          |           |        |         |     the     |
|          |           |        |         |Beneficiaries|
|----------+-----------+--------+---------+-------------|
|Weligama  |   1444    |  754   |    2    |      -      |
|----------+-----------+--------+---------+-------------|
|Matara    |    866    |  352   |   16    |     14      |
|----------+-----------+--------+---------+-------------|
|Devinuwara|    377    |  295   |    -    |      -      |
|----------+-----------+--------+---------+-------------|
|Dickwella |    664    |  225   |   14    |      -      |
|----------+-----------+--------+---------+-------------|
|TOTAL     |   3351    |  1626  |   32    |     14      |
|----------+-----------+--------+---------+-------------|

Source: THRU



Owner Driven Houses (Outside the Buffer Zone)
|----------+---------+--------+-----------|
|    DS    |Partially| Fully  |  Housing  |
| Division | Damaged |Damaged |Requirement|
|----------+---------+--------+-----------|
|Weligama  |  1633   |  376   |   2009    |
|----------+---------+--------+-----------|
|Matara    |  1940   |  232   |   2172    |
|----------+---------+--------+-----------|
|Devinuwara|   165   |   43   |    208    |
|----------+---------+--------+-----------|
|Dickwella |   312   |   64   |    376    |
|----------+---------+--------+-----------|
|TOTAL     |  4050   |  715   |   4765    |
|----------+---------+--------+-----------|

Source: THRU, SDC



Livelihoods

FAO and the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic resources (MFAR) 
distributed 49 outboard motors and 2,208 nets to approximately 210 
fishers in Matara on 3 December. This distribution of fishing equipment 
was made as part of three separate projects funded by the Italian Civil 
Protection Department, the Governments of Japan and Belgium.

At the last livelihood coordination meeting in Trincomalee cash for work 
was recoginsed as a cause for concern. For instance cash grant 
beneficiaries in Veloor, Kuchchaveli and Kinniya are unwilling to get 
involved in micro finance, micro credit, cash for work or other programs 
offered by agencies present at the coordination meeting, when cash 
grants were being offered by other actors. Also of concern was that 
these cash grants and even other programs were sometimes done without 
proper beneficiary selection / needs assessments, and did not always 
assist tsunami-affected or other disadvantaged / vulnerable groups. No 
clear solution was seen within the current context and the need for 
greater coordination was raised again. Also in an attempt to reduce 
duplication, identify gaps and other needs and reduce intra-agency 
competition, it was agreed that GTZ-PIP will devise a simple data 
collection format for micro-credit and other non-fisheries/agriculture 
livelihood activities and disseminate this to actors in the District.

Protection

On November 28 the Arklow Ireland Children's Home was opened in 
tsunami-affected Weligama in the south. The 7,500 square foot building 
consists of a 30 bed unit. The new Children's Home will provide 
accommodation for 30 girls who lost their parents to the tsunami. The 
orphanage will be run by the Dominican nuns, which is part of a 10,000 
strong Catholic community among two and a half million people who live 
in the Arklow region. However the new institution is being run with a 
policy of keeping the door open to all faiths.

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