OCHA Situation Report
Sri Lanka
15 - 21 October 2005


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Main challenges and response

New concerns regarding the relaxation of the buffer zone were raised at 
the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies weekly operational meeting on 21 
October. Discussions centred on the implications for project plans and 
resources, beneficiary confusion, freedom of return, and equity issues. 
Concern was also raised about the possibility of government changing 
policy again especially with regard to selective buffer zone District 
Secretariat (DS) and Grama Sevaka (GS) areas.

OCHA's Field office in Batticaloa reports that the operational 
environment is characterized by almost daily security incidents. During 
the month of September, a total of 31 security incidents occurred 
throughout the district with the latest security incident injuring10 
civilians and one police officer.

Coordination and common services

>From 1-15 October, IOM Sri Lanka dispatched lorries 123 times to 
>various
construction sites and equipment locations around the country. 
Sixty-nine IOM lorries were dispatched on behalf of various agencies 
during the same period: 16 lorries transported medicine and medical 
equipment from the Colombo Medical Supplies Division to warehouses 
around Colombo as well as to hospitals in affected areas throughout the 
country for the Ministry of Health; 16 lorries transported building 
material to construction sites in Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara for 
UNHCR; 16 lorries transported fishing boats to Trincomalee and 
Batticaloa for Care International; 10 lorries transported cement to 
Matara for TAFREN; 4 lorries transported cement to Ampara for SPIR 
(Samaritan's Purse International Relief); 6 lorries transported GI 
roofing sheets to Ampara for OXFAM; and one lorry transported plastic 
sheets from Colombo to Ampara for GOAL.

Food security

An additional 198 projects have been approved in Galle, Hambantota and 
Matara, scaling up the total number of food-for-work projects in 
tsunami-affected areas to 444. These new food-for-work projects focus on 
road renovation and construction, cleaning of schools and common areas, 
construction of children's playgrounds and planting of coconut 
seedlings.
>From October to December 2005, WFP is planning to distribute 10,967 
>tonnes
of mixed food commodities to some 183,000 beneficiaries under the 
food-for-work programme.

Education

Students and teachers of Navalady School (Thiraimadu temporary school 
building) have made a complaint to the Zonal Department Education (ZDE) 
that the building is too hot and therefore not suitable to be used for 
teaching purposes. Following this complaint, the ZDE made a request to 
UNICEF to upgrade the building.

Schools which have been used as welfare camps (indirectly affected by 
the tsunami) need to be renovated. There are 75 such schools in 
Batticaloa district and the ZDEs have requested the donor community to 
come forward to help them.

Health

Dengue alerts are ongoing in Matara district and among aid workers the 
OCHA Galle field office reports. Two cases of dengue have been reported 
by the Spanish Red Cross and Caritas International. IOM Sri Lanka is in 
the process of developing an information campaign aimed at delivering 
messages about the high tendency for an outbreak of dengue and malaria 
due to increased breeding sites following the seasonal rains. In 
Trincomalee, the Medical Health Officer with the support of IOM launched 
an awareness raising campaign on dengue and malaria prevention, which 
will be aired through the local cable TV network. This announcement will 
be telecast in local languages, initially for seven continuous days and 
then every Sunday through December 2005.

The broadcast message states: "There is potential risk for outbreaks of 
dengue and malaria in Trincomalee again this season. Let us protect 
ourselves from these diseases by destroying mosquito breeding sites such 
as bottles, coconut shells, polythene bags, plastic containers and other 
places where water can stagnate."

In Batticaloa, as part of the prevention exercise for dengue and 
malaria, an environmental hygiene programme has been developed by the 
CHSO (community health surveillance officer) to inform residents on how 
to destroy breeding sites for vectors of the diseases.

A teenage boy with a compound fracture was facilitated by IOM to travel 
to the orthopaedic clinic at Batticaloa General Hospital on 12 October. 
IOM also agreed to regularly provide transportation to a mother whose 
one-year-old baby was diagnosed with thalassaemic heart disease and must 
receive a monthly blood transfusion.

Additionally, a large scale shramadanaya (cleaning project) was 
conducted in Onthachimadam village, Batticaloa district. All 
beneficiaries and IOM staff took part in this cleaning project that will 
be the initiation of a vector control programme.

Fourteen different organisations in the psycho-social field are working 
in the transitional shelter site of Thiraimadu in Batticaloa. Despite 
the fact that the number of shelters and families amounts to over 1,000, 
agencies have sometimes found themselves assisting the same persons. To 
try to address this situation, Mangrove, a local network recently 
initiated a series of coordination meetings and actors are currently 
undertaking a joint needs assessment in order to develop a joint work 
plan. Mangrove has also established their first psycho-social referral 
desk in Vaharai division and is planning to set up similar desks in all 
the tsunami affected divisions.

Water and sanitation

In Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee, UNICEF has facilitated the 
compilation of a summary matrix identifying gaps in flood prone IDP 
camps, with other UN agencies and NGO partners as part of the ongoing 
contingency preparedness planning for floods during the monsoon season. 
UNICEF also conducted a lecture on the importance of proper drainage in 
the transitional settlements during a two-day training workshop for the 
field officers of TAP(Transitional Accommodation Project) supported by 
the Norwegian government. In Galle, assessments and preparations to 
improve the water and sanitation facilities in selected schools in all 
three districts supported by UNICEF have been completed. To improve 
transport facilities for water and sanitation activities, UNICEF 
provided three double cab trucks to the National Water Supply and 
Drainage Board in Galle, Matara and Hambantota districts.

In Ampara, a total of 138 water bowsers provided 1,109,050 liters of 
water a day for the week 10-16 October to tsunami camps by various 
actors.

In Kalutara, IOM WatSan engineers hired local contractors to improve 
facilities at the Purana Raja Maha Viharaya (PRMV) transitional housing 
site. On 15 October, contractors completed the rehabilitation of one 
well that is used as the main source of drinking water for 25 
beneficiaries. Other improvements included cleaning and deepening the 
existing hand-dug well, constructing a water distribution system with a 
pump, water tank, and taps, and constructing a bathing and washing area 
with privacy fencing.

In Ampara district, IOM WatSan engineers analyzed quotations from 15 
contractors for a Ministry of Health (MOH)-approved design for toilet 
construction; the bidding contractors previously worked with IOM on the 
transitional accommodation construction programme.

Also in Ampara, the WatSan engineers started training field assistants 
to conduct site assessment surveys. IOM is currently assessing WatSan 
gaps in the district, starting with transitional housing sites in 
Akkaraipattu and Pottuvil. Based on the initial stages of the 
assessments, WatSan engineers have identified locations needing 
approximately 50 toilet facilities and 10 well sites.

The Package Treatment Plant (PTP) run by Samaritan's Purse at Kittandi, 
Kalmunai Division, has been shutdown due to high salinity in the lagoon. 
The Water Board has started supplying water up to 115 cubic meters per 
day from Karativu water tower. Payment for the water at a subsidized 
rate is being considered. The issue will be raised with the GA as well 
as with the Water Board and TAP in Colombo for further discussion.

By the end of November, about 1100 toilets need to be completed to cover 
1875 families. To date 502 toilets have been completed. The toilet 
construction of about 300 toilets depends on a final list from UNHCR on 
completion of shelter construction and assessment of number of toilets.

Non-food items and shelter

According to TAP (Transitional Accommodation Project) all transitional 
shelter requirements in the Galle district have been met. Out of a total 
of 5403, 1189 and 1691 shelters required in Galle, Matara and Hambantota 
respectively, 5456, 1204, and 1702 have been completed in the Galle, 
Matara and Hambantota districts respectively.

To date, IOM Sri Lanka has completed 4,188 transitional houses in seven 
tsunami-affected districts. In total, IOM has been requested to build 
5,775 transitional houses for which land has been allocated for 5,445. 
In the first two weeks of October, IOM completed 233 houses and another 
437 are currently under construction. On the care and maintenance of 
transitional shelters, a few camps are having termite problems, 
previously not flagged in the radar.

TAP further reports that there are 112 families still living in tents at 
two different sites in Koralai Pattu and Eravur Pattu divisions in 
Batticaloa.

Agencies are working on upgrading their transitional shelters to achieve 
the minimum standards plus to prepare for the upcoming rain period. In 
this respect, UNHCR has provided 203 plastic sheets to Oxfam Australia 
to cover the roofs of their transitional shelters. In Thiraimadu in 
Batticaloa, the DS has requested the respective actors to do proper 
upgrading as the transitional shelters will be used at least for 2 years 
as it seems that there is no chance for permanent housing within the 
next two years in Thiraimadu.

Livelihoods

IOM's livelihood programme has directly assisted 140 beneficiaries in 
three districts, bringing the total number assisted through this 
programme to 2,324 families in five districts. The programme has also 
established partnerships with 12 NGOs and community-based organisations 
to reach a wider population of tsunami-affected persons.

During the reporting period, livelihood development officers 
collaborated with psychosocial officers to organise Youth Information 
Workshops in Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee. Over 800 youth who 
attended these workshops were provided with career guidance and 
information regarding possible vocational training institutions in their 
area. Their skills and interests were assessed and registered to 
determine what kind of training and other career development support 
they would require. After analyzing these assessments, the livelihood 
team will channel them into locally available training programmes or 
develop vocational training courses specific to their needs.

IOM entered into partnership with the Institute of Human Development and 
Training (IHDT), who started a livelihood regeneration programme for 
female-headed households in three divisions in Kalutara district. IHDT 
will be assisting 100 families in training, supporting businesses with 
raw materials and ongoing business development. In Matara, 34 more 
beneficiaries who received livelihood assistance were given Business 
Development and Entrepreneurship Skill Training as well as Occupational 
Safety Training.

As part of IOM's counter trafficking programme, in Trincomalee district, 
SLF staff implemented activities in Muttur, Eachchilampattu, Kinniya, 
Kuchchaveli divisions such as community problem-solving and empowerment, 
including addressing livelihood/job training, sanitation and health 
issues, a monitoring visit to transitional site preschools, discussions 
and problem-solving with the Fisheries Society and with four families to 
address alcohol abuse.

In Ampara, UNICEF Protection Officers provided training on child rights 
and the role of the District Child Protection Committee to 48 Samodhi 
Development Workers and student-teachers. UNICEF is establishing 
protection and psycho-social contingency plans for IDPs for the annual 
monsoon flooding in Ampara. As the annual flooding coincides with the 
first anniversary of the tsunami, concerns have been raised that the 
annual monsoon flooding will precipitate further psycho-social problems.

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