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FROM THE FIELD

Batticaloa, Sri Lanka: New homes fuel small business boom
01 Dec 2008 10:56:00 GMT
 Source: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) - Switzerland
By Patrick Fuller, International Federation in Sri Lanka

Website: Website: http://www.ifrc.org

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Many of the families now living in the houses built by the Red Cross Red Crescent in Uriyankaddu have kept the temporary tsunami shelters as extra storage space. (p18569)
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Many of the families now living in the houses built by the Red Cross Red Crescent in Uriyankaddu have kept the temporary tsunami shelters as extra storage space. (p18569)

Background

•  Indian Ocean tsunami

•  Earthquakes

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In June 2007, S.S Mahan wasn't very optimistic about the future. The 26-year-old had just returned to his home in the village of Uriyankaddu, which lies on the Vaharai peninsula in Sri Lanka's north eastern district of Batticaloa.

Five months earlier, Mahan and his family had fled the area as government forces battled to reclaim the area from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). After months of living in a tented camp for the displaced, he was finally able to return, only to find the family home destroyed and the village abandoned.

Home for the next year became a stifling tin shack shared with his wife and newborn baby. With limited work opportunities, the family was largely dependent on government food rations and support from NGOs. A year on, and the situation is now very different for Mahan and his neighbours.

Local economy

The streets of Uriyankaddu are no longer empty and forlorn. Houses are springing up everywhere, a school has opened and a bustling market selling fruit, vegetables and plastic ware has given a boost to the local economy. "Now our children can walk to school and if you are sick, there is an ambulance service that will take you to hospital in Batticaloa," says Mahan.

Two weeks ago, Mahan dismantled his tin shack and the family is comfortably settled in to their newly built two-bedroomed house - one of 58 units being built in the village under the Red Cross Red Crescent tsunami recovery programme. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is supporting the construction of almost 30,000 new homes along Sri Lanka's coastline, but the site at Uriyankaddu hasn't been an easy one.

"The main issue has been security," explains Kefa Owino, construction delegate with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Face difficulties

"We had to put the project on hold for almost a year when the fighting began in 2006. We still face difficulties getting labourers from outside the area to work here because they were afraid that the LTTE were still active in the area," he says. Skilled craftsmen have also been in short supply, "most of the local people are fishermen or casual laborers. It's been hard to find good carpenters or plasterers willing to work here."

Despite the obstacles, 21 families have been able to move into their homes at Uriyankaddu. While the finishing touches are put to the remaining houses, work has begun on digging community wells and building an access road into the settlement.

Mahan now makes a good living from fishing for crabs and prawns in the nearby lagoon. Before the tsunami he had his own boat and fishing nets but they were lost to the sea together with his home when the waves swept in.

Highly prized

On a good day during the peak season he can harvest up to 10 kilos of seafood. It's seasonal work but there is a thriving export market for the region's lagoon prawns which are highly prized in countries like Japan. When the season ends, Mahan works on one of the local fishing boats that go night fishing for tuna. It is still hard for fishermen here. Security restrictions mean that they can only travel one kilometer out to sea and some out lagoon areas remain off-limits.

A few kilometers south of Batticaloa town lies the newly constructed village of Ontachimadam, another resettlement site where the Red Cross Red Crescent has built 80 houses that are now occupied by families whose homes on the nearby beachfront were destroyed in the tsunami.

Walking down the red clay streets that intersect the community there is a real sense that the people living here have adapted easily to their new surroundings. In one house the front door is wide open, a TV inside blasts out a popular Bollywood soundtrack loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear. A local trader shouts over the music, hawking fish from a box on the back of his bicycle. He is immediately surrounded by housewives eager to buy up his catch.

Thriving industries

Although members of the Tamil community in Ontachimadam enjoy living in close proximity to each other, each compound is sealed off from prying eyes by fencing made from horizontal corrugated iron sheets or palm leaf matting. Behind closed doors, thriving cottage industries have started up. Thavamani, 47, makes a living from weaving baskets using the palm fronds of the local palmyrah tree. Every day she and her mother make two baskets between them which might fetch 300 rupees (3 US dollars) at the market.

"We used to sit on the dirt floor of our temporary shelter doing this but now we have space and it's clean," she says.

Thavamani's next door neighbour V. Palanithamby is a blacksmith. He has set up a small forge outside his house making machetes and garden tools for local traders. "Business is good but once I make enough money I plan to shift my business to the main road where there is more trade," he says. "Living here is better than my old house on beach. It was too isolated. Here everyone is together."

Regular commissions

Before the tsunami, 84-year-old Kadir Thamby was a well-known goldsmith who received regular commissions for chains and bracelets from local jewelers. The loss of his wife and two daughters in the tsunami hit Kadir very hard. He is now one of a handful of goldsmiths working out of their homes in Ontachimadam.

The house of his neighbour Shanthi Yogalingam doubles as the local grocery store, and anything from rice to dried fish and cold coca-cola can be bought there. In the main living area she has also started a tailoring business using a sewing machine to make women's clothes. "I had a big shop before the tsunami where I employed four people. In a few months I'm hoping to start up another shop near the road which will attract more customers," she says.

"Having a new home has brought stability for thousands of people," says Tissa Abeywickrama, chairman of the Red Cross Red Crescent tsunami recovery task force. "Many still haven't recovered from losing family members but the experience of the tsunami has somehow brought communities closer together."


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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