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Filed under: News
Sanitary workers of the Hambantota Municipal Council were resettled in Samodagama GN Division in the Hambantota DS Division several years ago. Today Samodagama is now home to 62 families, out of which 95 percent are Tamil and are mainly Tamil speakers.
Most of these people are brick workers, whilst others work for a daily wage, while still others are forced to beg in order to scrape together a daily income. At present, eight families work at the Municipal Council as sanitary workers and two families work for the salt industry.
These people battle a hoard of social and economical problems. As a result, they are unable to send their children to school even though the children are of a school–going age. Instead, these children are used for anti–social activities, as there is no encouragement from parents to attend school.
This is due to one or more reasons, including the lack of clothes, shoes, books, school bags, and food, amongst others. Some children are sent off to work to earn a wage for their family.
Job opportunities within the village are minimal and people are compelled to travel outside the village in search of work.
Some of these families are even deprived of a daily meal, whilst some others do not have clothes on their backs.
Unemployment in the area has rendered people distraught and helpless. In all eagerness, some have expressed their willingness to undergo training in the fibre industry, the coir industry, and home gardening.
The people grapple with numerous infrastructure problems, such as the lack of electricity facilities, poor road conditions, insufficient water supply, and lack of shelter. The villagers of Samodagama Rajapaksha Mawatha share one tap among 26 families. In addition, there are 14 families without toilet facilities and families are forced to forego sanitary practices.
To add to the misery, they run the risk of not having a healthy environment to live in, as a result of deforestation and floods. During the past three months, the area was flooded thrice due to heavy rains. With many houses submerged, the people were driven from their homes with no place to live.
Besides floods, some of the houses are not in any suitable state to live in as they are damaged. The majority of the houses are temporary and even lack basic protection. Some people use their homes as their kitchen by day and bedroom by night, with upto two to three families living in one claustrophobic space they call home, eight by ten feet in size.
Some other common issues that these people face are the lack of National Identification Cards (38 families), Certificates of Birth (34 families), Certificates of Marriage (nine families), and ‘Samurdhi’ (28 families). Additionally, there are 13 children who do not attend school.
People in Samodagama still live with a ray of hope that they will have a place to call home someday. To date, their dreams have been confined to mere dreams. Their problems are in abundance and solutions non–existent and out of sight. Will their dreams just continue to remain as mere dreams?
The Jaffna District experienced one of its worst natural disasters in the form of ‘Nisha’ a cyclone, which ripped through the district at a speed of 103 km/h, wreaking havoc.With rains commencing on the November 22, 2008 and ending on November 27, Nisha’s cyclonic winds peaked on November 25.
The rains raged for six days without end and the Thirunelvely Metrological Department recorded a staggering 765.5 mm rainfall, the highest ever recorded in Jaffna. On the 25th alone, the district recorded 389.8 mm of rainfall, a record for a single day’s rain in the district, which had last seen its highest rainfall on the September 25, 2001, at 211.8 mm. The district’s average figure stands at 1231 mm as opposed to the 1623.8 mm recorded from January, 2008 upto the November 28, 2008.
Flood waters, from ponds and tanks were overflowing and the groundwater levels reaching saturation and gushed through villages and towns. The water levels rose to three to four feet in some areas, especially the Jaffna Municipality area, polluting wells.
The flooding rendered families homeless, and residents and traders destitute. Sectors affected included agriculture, fisheries, animal husbandry, housing, water supply, health, and education. The cyclone’s wrath had caused extensive damage to flora and fauna, residential areas, and commercial concerns. Highways, roads, causeways, telecommunication networks, electricity supply, banana cultivations, and homestead were devastated.
The flood waters submerged the entire paddy cultivation, annihilating more than half the acreage. Moreover, the sea water that invaded land will cause future salinity problems. An assessment revealed that damages caused to all sectors amounted to Rs. 9, 285.22 million.
|
Item |
Sector Details |
Sub total (Million LKR) |
Total (Million LKR) |
|
1.0 |
Agriculture |
|
1836.61 |
|
1.1 |
Agriculture |
1498.05 |
|
|
1.2 |
Fisheries |
301.79 |
|
|
1.3 |
Animal Husbandry |
36.77 |
|
|
2.0 |
Human Settlement |
|
2445.48 |
|
2.1 |
Housing |
2441.58 |
|
|
2.3 |
Water Supply |
3.90 |
|
|
3.0 |
Social Infrastructure |
|
82.41 |
|
3.1 |
Health |
38.90 |
|
|
3.2 |
Education |
43.51 |
|
|
4.0 |
Transport – Roads |
|
2386.05 |
|
5.0 |
Other Local Authorities’ Properties |
|
135.00 |
|
6.0 |
Trading Activities |
|
2400.00 |
|
|
Total |
|
9285.55 |
Source: Ministry of Social Services and Social Welfare
The catastrophe caused the displacement of 97, 656 families (338, 579 members) of a total population of 165, 626 families (546, 507 members). A total of 72, 338 families (245, 444 members) live with relatives and friends, whilst 23, 318 families (93, 135 members) live in 339 welfare centres, which include many schools that were converted to welfare centres to cope with the crisis, set up to accommodate affected populations.
|
Details |
No. of Families |
No. of Members |
No. of Deaths |
No. Injured |
|
In welfare centres |
23, 318 |
93, 135 |
- |
- |
|
With friends and relatives |
72, 338 |
245, 444 |
- |
- |
|
Total |
97, 656 |
338, 579 |
09 |
02 |
Source: Ministry of Social Services and Social Welfare
The local authorities, too, have been paralysed by this calamity and are unable to collect garbage, road clearance, restoring sanitation facilities, removing felled trees, and repairing causeways due to the lack of finances. All this requires machinery and resources and this means the need for funds.
It is imperative that normalcy be established to the badly disrupted lives of the people, in order that they can return to their daily routines. Families need assistance to repair their houses, clean their premises, and water wells, so as to rebuild their lives.
