OCHA Situation Report
Sri Lanka
1 - 7 June 2006


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Overall Situation

Due to the overall deterioration of the situation in Ampara, in 
particular for some areas of Central Camp, GOAL had reported that most 
building contractors (from other parts of the country) are leaving the 
district fearing LTTE attacks and as a result NGOs are finding it 
difficult to find new contractors to complete their work. As a general 
rule in Sri Lanka owing to the security situation, NGOs and building 
projects are not permitted to carry more than 25 bags of cement at a 
time for construction, which in turn slows down the reconstruction 
process.

Agencies in the north east are trying to continue normal operations 
despite shortages compounded by restrictions on movement. President 
Rajapakse has instructed government officials to ensure that daily 
activities of the civilians in the North and East are not to be hampered 
and the essential items to North & East must move without restrictions 
according to a press release by RADA (see attached). This was made clear 
at a high-powered meeting held on 7th of June at the Reconstruction & 
Development Agency [ RADA ] convened by Mr. Saliya Wickramasuriya, its 
Chief Operating Officer (COO). Speaking at this meeting, Mr. Miguel 
Bermeo Country Director UN expressed the need to have a clear & 
consistent procedure and a mechanism for solving problems pertaining to 
delivery of goods such as cement which are used as material for the 
construction of houses for tsunami affected people in the North & East. 
(RADA Press release 08.06.2006 attached)

In Sri Lanka, to mark the World Day against child labour, the ILO 
sponsored a meeting to brief tripartite constituents, donors, UN agency 
personnel, media and members of civil society on the Global Report on 
Child Labour on 7 June. Sri Lanka has ratified all eight human rights 
conventions of the ILO, including the two core conventions on Child 
Labour.

Main challenges and response

In Iruthayapuram church in Muttur Trincomalee district displaced persons 
are not allowed out of concentration points while it is reported that 
who went out were not allowed to come back in. Meanwhile INGOs and NGOs 
commuting between Government and LTTE controlled areas are been stopped 
to conduct search operations for long periods of time. The number of 
check-points in Trincomalee town is increasing and people checked every 
200 meters on Inner Harbour Road, Trincomalee.

Also in Trincomalee, Oxfam can not engage in water trucking activities 
due to fuel shortages.

All three main drainage schemes in Killinochchi District are in need of 
rehabilitation. Sand mining for construction of tsunami replacement 
houses has seriously disrupted water courses - where sand is accessible 
to lorries there are deep holes, leaving other areas untouched and as a 
result the water course is changing.

In Ampara the dumping site for human waste in Sammanthurai Division 
proposed by UNICEF and the DPDHS is a permanent stabilization point and 
has created problems for the surrounding community. The actors involved 
are exploring options to remedy the situation.

UNDP, the lead agency for livelihoods in Ampara district has handed over 
the livelihood sector to the government structure of RADA 
(Reconstruction and Development Agency). This should be looked into 
carefully, as RADA in Ampara District has only one representative (one 
staff member) and its functions at present are very limited. The 
Livelihood Divisional Plans carried out by Practical Action, assisting 
ILO and RADA, is yet to be completed for any of the divisions in Ampara 
District. It is also noted that there is no proper coordination within 
the fisheries, agriculture and micro-credit sector in Ampara district.

Coordination and common services

FAO together with the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (MFAR) 
launched the results of the 'Recovery Assessment in the Fisheries 
Sector' last week. The assessment was designed to take stock of 
achievements in the emergency relief and rehabilitation of the fisheries 
sector and identify gaps in assistance to plan for future interventions. 
The assessment focused on fish production and marketing, fishing assets 
(boats, engines, gear), fisheries infrastructure and post-harvest 
facilities (harbours, markets, ice plants etc.), coastal protection and 
aquaculture and support to local institutions. Although findings show 
that recent monthly fish landings have reached 90 per cent of 
pre-tsunami levels, the rehabilitation of fisheries infrastructure, 
coastal ecosystems and local institutions has been slow, and issues such 
as oversupply of boats and sustainability of marine resources need 
urgent attention.

In Ampara district the recent mini cyclone in Thirukkovil Division, 
which affected 15 families highlighted gaps in the response led by the 
District Disaster Management Committee. It was also apparent that the 
contingency plans that were drawn out for the floods during the monsoon, 
which included separate divisional contingency plans were not carried 
out. It is a lessons-learned with respect to emergency response and has 
been followed up with the District secretary and the Disaster Management 
Committee by OCHA.

FAO is to develop a common beneficiary database for the Fisheries 
Department for Galle, Matara and Hambantota. Once the database is 
developed FAO would be training a fisheries officer to update the 
database.

Food security

WFP confirmed that food distribution to people displaced from Muttur 
(includes Muttur LTTE controlled area and Muttur Government controlled 
area) was done the past weeks. Multi Purpose Co-operations are stocked, 
however nothing or very little is delivered to places where IDPs are 
present. The issue has been raised on many occasions with no progress so 
far.

In the south, vulnerability analysis mapping of Galle, Matara and 
Hambantota districts is complete while the School Feeding program for 
all three districts are ongoing with the support of Muslim Aid. 
Furthermore in the south WFP has extended their feeding programme up to 
2007.

Health

The Deputy Provincial Director for Health Services (DPDHS) in Ampara 
reported a Hepatitis A outbreak in the divisions of Addalachchenai, 
Akkaraipattu, Sammanturai and Kulmunai South attributed to contaminated 
water in the area. Terres Des Hommes (TDH) cleaned and checked the wells 
and reported 1/3 of the water to be of good quality.

Non-food items and shelter

In Verugal, Trincomalee district there is a high IDP population and 
agencies have distributed tents and trampolines to shelter people.

According to information from UN Habitat (and previously from IOM), the 
following Divisions in Ampara are:

(1) Over pledged: Kalmunai Tamil, Nintavur, Pottuvil and Thirrukovil.

(2) Under pledged: Kalmunai Muslim, Sainthammarathu, Sammanthurai, 
Akkaraipattu, and Addalachchennai.

(3) The Division of Addaleyvambu is progressing well with sufficient 
number of houses pledged.

Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) launched an updated version of the 
Transitional Shelter Site Tracking (TSST) in Galle district recently. 
Copies of the TSST have been distributed and NRC Site Management 
Training and site level coaching is on going in the district.

Education

The Advanced Level Examination to gain entry to Sri Lankan universities 
is on going without any major disturbance with some mutual understanding 
between the Sri Lankan armed forces and LTTE.

Livelihoods

FAO distributed 2,038 fishing nets and associated ropes, floats, twine 
etc. to 144 fishers in Galle (57) and Matara (87) district. This 
distribution of fishing gear brings the total number of fishing nets 
distributed to 45, 662, with altogether 4,082 fishers having benefited 
in eight coastal districts. FAO also distributed six inboard engines to 
fishers in Galle (2), Matara (1), Hambantota (2) and Trincomalee (1). 
The engines were 42 horse power, diesel motors and are being fitted onto 
multi-day boats through local boat yards operating in the district. Each 
multi-day boat takes a crew of about five fishers out to sea for 3-4 
weeks at a stretch, and returns with some 4-5 tonnes of catch per trip. 
To date, FAO has distributed 634 outboard engines (typically utilized 
for 17-23 foot one-day boats) and 11 inboard motors.

The Livelihood Division of the Reconstruction and Development Agency 
(RADA), with advisory support of the ILO IRTAP (Income Recovery 
Technical Assistant Programme), entered into a memorandum of 
understanding with the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) on 02 
June. Through the MoU, RADA and CHA have agreed to strengthen district 
coordination capacity through increasing the effectiveness of district 
livelihood coordination meetings. The two organizations also agreed to 
cooperate in the dissemination of information in relation to the supply 
and demand of livelihood recovery activities at district and divisional 
level and to create public awareness on services and facilities 
available to tsunami-affected communities through the establishment of 
clearing houses.

In Matara district the RADA Livelihoods Unit, the Back to Business 
Programme of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Sri Lanka 
(FCCISL), CHA, ILO IRTAP and ILO JobsNet conducted a mobile "Back to 
Business Week" 5 through 9 June in the three tsunami-affected Divisions 
of Dikwella, Weligama and Matara. On the first two days RADA Livelihoods 
officers registered almost 400 pending livelihoods issues which will be 
resolved within the coming two weeks.

Two Flake Ice Plants and a Seafood Collecting Centre were opened June 1, 
2006 in the north-eastern district of Mullaitivu. The ice plants and 
collection centre were provided through the Japanese-funded Recovery of 
the Fisheries Sector project being implemented by UNDP.

In Galle district the rehabilitation of tsunami-affected cinnamon 
plantations in Ambalangoda, Balapitiya, Ahungalle, Hikkaduwa districts 
is on going. A total of 206 farmers have been selected for assistance 
while inspection and beneficiary validation is done by the Department of 
Export Agriculture. Sri Lankan Red Cross together with the Spanish Red 
Cross is providing cash grants for clearing land, supply of fertilizer, 
polythene bags and plants. Meanwhile the Austrian North South Institute 
for Development Cooperation has launched a program to clean around 300 
tsunami-affected coir husk pits in the Galle district.

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