I’d like to write about tsunami reconstruction efforts in Sri Lanka. A friend went over there to supervise work for an NGO, and he is disgusted by the Sri Lankan government’s corruption, and its complete indifference to its own people’s suffering. He says that aid supplies have been embargoed in the port, and the government won’t release them until the US pays duties on them. Note that they are charging duties on supplies that were donated for FREE! IMHO this is simply corruption at work.
His main expertise is in constrution, and his last assignment was building 5000 houses in Afghanistan, so he has some experience at working in difficult conditions. Right now, many thousands of people are living in cardboard boxes, while construction supplies are stacked up in the port. To me, this country seems like a good candidate for regime change.
My friend is charmed by the regular people that he has met. He is staying with a local family, and the children call him “UncleAlSir”, and bring him tea in the morning.
This is astonishing. Is there anything we can do to help your friend?
Thanks – I don’t know how to influence the Sri Lankan government, unless a coalition of donor countries leans on them hard.
This whole situation is similar to what happened in Kuwait after the first Gulf war. Their oil fields were on fire, and they had called in Red Adair to put them out, but his equipment was stuck at the port because government officials were demanding bribes to release it. I think that Bush I had to call the Kuwaiti emir personally to get things moving.
P.S. Great topic for your first diary here. And, we’d all love to hear more about your friend’s experiences.
Thanks for bringing this matter to light. Sadly, this is a familiar pattern in many places, once the cameras are gone and the world is looking the other way. I have no clue how to influence the Sri Lankan government either.
I think this is also one of the reasons why Bill Clinton suggested something along the lines of donor nations taking responsibility for certain regions… this and because money promised in the heat of the disaster quite often never appears. Many familiar with this process looked on with a sort of cynical amusement as various donor countries tried to one-up each other in the amounts they said they were giving. Because that’s usually exactly what it is… the amounts they say they are giving.
I hope your friend keeps us updated on this particular area and maybe tells some of the stories of the families he meets.
Just a thought… but the Norwegian gov’t seems to have a lot of influence in Sri Lanka, esp the peace process. Might be worth it to contact them about this issue!
Pax
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Great diary and thanks for sharing!
See my diary on Tsunami of Dec. 2004
Oui – Liberté – Egalité – Fraternité
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Yesterday, looking for the item on the Morgan Gypsies, reorganized my records on some links of diaries covering the TSUNAMI DIASASTER and its aftermath. Also covered the world community sharing grief and contributing for the reconstruction in South-East Asia. Thought I would share info in this diary as future reference.
Tid Bits on Tsunami Aftermath
by creve coeur Sun Dec 26th, 2004
by creve coeur Fri Dec 31st, 2004
by catnip Thu Dec 30th, 2004
by SusanHu Sat Jan 1st, 2005
by SusanHu Sun Jan 9th, 2005
Oui – Liberté – Egalité – Fraternité
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They should be there soon and be able get the Tamils the help they need.
linked text
“A spokesman for TRO, the only non-government organisation willing to work in the north-east region held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, said nearly 20,000 people were confirmed dead.
“We require generous offers of aid from countries and organisations to flow through to the north-east to avoid it becoming a forgotten land,” the spokesman said.
“The strange thing in our case is we do have the resources to handle the situation but we lack the help with relief items.”
by redrobin on Fri Dec 31st, 2004 at 04:05:41 PDT
Oui – Liberté – Egalité – Fraternité