Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05COLOMBO146
2005-01-19 03:24:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:  

SRI LANKA - EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMIS:

Tags:  EAID AEMR PREL PGOV CE 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 COLOMBO 000146 

SIPDIS

STATE ALSO PASS TO USAID
STATE FOR TSUNAMI TASK FORCE 1
USAID/W FOR A/AID ANDREW NATSIOS, JBRAUSE
DCHA/OFDA GGOTTLIEB, MMARX, RTHAYER, BDEEMER
AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA
TSUNAMI RESPONSE MANAGEMENT TEAM

SIPDIS
DCHA/FFP FOR LAUREN LANDIS
DCHA BUREAU FOR ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR ROGER WINTER
ANE DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR MARK WARD
BANGKOK FOR OFDA SENIOR REGIONAL ADVISOR TOM DOLAN
KATHMANDU FOR OFDA REGIONAL ADVISOR WILLIAM BERGER
GENEVA FOR USAID KYLOH
ROME PASS FODAG
NSC FOR MELINE
CDR USPACOM FOR J3/J4/POLAD
USEU PASS USEC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID AEMR PREL PGOV CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA - EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMIS:
USAID/DART SITREP #7

REFERENCE: A) COLOMBO 00125

-------
SUMMARY
-------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 COLOMBO 000146

SIPDIS

STATE ALSO PASS TO USAID
STATE FOR TSUNAMI TASK FORCE 1
USAID/W FOR A/AID ANDREW NATSIOS, JBRAUSE
DCHA/OFDA GGOTTLIEB, MMARX, RTHAYER, BDEEMER
AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA
TSUNAMI RESPONSE MANAGEMENT TEAM

SIPDIS
DCHA/FFP FOR LAUREN LANDIS
DCHA BUREAU FOR ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR ROGER WINTER
ANE DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR MARK WARD
BANGKOK FOR OFDA SENIOR REGIONAL ADVISOR TOM DOLAN
KATHMANDU FOR OFDA REGIONAL ADVISOR WILLIAM BERGER
GENEVA FOR USAID KYLOH
ROME PASS FODAG
NSC FOR MELINE
CDR USPACOM FOR J3/J4/POLAD
USEU PASS USEC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID AEMR PREL PGOV CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA - EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMIS:
USAID/DART SITREP #7

REFERENCE: A) COLOMBO 00125

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. As of January 16, according to the Center for
National Operations (CNO),the earthquake and tsunamis
had killed 30,920 people in Sri Lanka. The U.S.
Military continues to engage in debris removal and
clean-up activities in Galle and assist in the
transport of relief supplies throughout Sri Lanka.
According to the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO),
there have been no disease outbreaks in Sri Lanka.
The U.N. Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC)
team and CARE conducted a Rapid Environmental Impact
Assessment (REA),partially funded by USAID, to
determine the environmental impact of the earthquake
and tsunamis in Sri Lanka. End summary.


--------------
Death Tolls
--------------


2. The CNO, which is responsible for the overall
coordination of the relief effort in Sri Lanka,
reports that as of January 16 at 1700 hours local
time, the earthquake and tsunamis had killed 30,920
people, injured 15,573 residents, displaced 431,224
persons, completely damaged 90,241 houses, and
partially damaged 41,960 houses. Currently there are
6,020 persons missing. According to the CNO, there
are 404 camps housing displaced persons.
Sri Lankan officials said publicly January 17 that
they expect the tsunami death toll to eventually
surpass 40,000.

--------------
Situation in Galle
--------------


3. According to the USAID/Disaster Assistance
Response Team (DART) Logistics Officer (LO) located in
Galle, local residents are beginning to clear drainage

channels, but there is no coordination and work is not
continuous. Debris is currently being piled along the
side of the channels and has not been removed. The
USAID/LO reported that many locals with local
equipment are beginning to clear private property and
pile debris along roadways.


4. The USAID/DART LO observed water trucks delivering
water in Galle, but there is need for increased water
distribution in internally displaced person (IDP)
camps. The USAID/DART LO reported that the Austrian
Military will produce water and distribute it in the
Ambalangoda region, and the U.S. military will
distribute water produced by the Austrian Military in
the Hikkaduwa region, north of Galle. The water
distribution to IDP centers in Hikkaduwa will start on
January 17. [Note: The USAID/DART LO stated that the
Galle Water Authority is aware that this is only a
temporary solution, and it must develop a long-term
plan prior to the departure of the U.S. and Austrian
Militaries. End Note.]


5. The U.S. Military is still clearing rubble in 25
schools and plans to complete this clean-up by January
25, the first day schools will reopen. The U.S.
Military will start clean-up on a road project on
January 18.


6. The USAID/DART LO met with USAID/Office of U.S.
Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) implementing
partner Christian Children's Fund (CCF) who will be
building transitional shelters in Galle. The shelters
will be supplied to 3,000 families throughout Galle
and Matara districts. As of January 14, there are 69
IDP camps in Galle.

--------------
Coordination with the U.S. Military
--------------


7. The U.S. Military continues to transport produce
(see Ref A) for the National Agrobusiness Council
throughout Sri Lanka. The U.S. Military has now
started flights to transport this produce to
Trincomalee in northeastern Sri Lanka and Jaffna in
northern Sri Lanka, in addition to Ampara in eastern
Sri Lanka. Approximately 50 metric tons (MT) of
produce will be delivered to Trincomalee, Jaffna, and
Batticaloa during the course of the next week.
According to the USAID/DART, the produce has been
received positively by IDPs as it supplements the
rice, dhal, and oil rations distributed by the
Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and provides IDPs with
micronutrients.


8. The U.S. Military continues to transport relief
supplies for the GOSL and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs). For the next week, the U.S.
Military is flying 16 MT of food daily for the GOSL to
IDP camps around Sri Lankan Air Force bases.


9. A detachment of 26 medical personnel were deployed
to Jaffna Teaching Hospital and Point Pedro Hospital
in northern Sri Lanka on January 16 to assist with
clinical operations. On January 17, an additional
flight arrived in Sri Lanka with a WHO emergency
health kit, which includes medical supplies to support
10,000 beneficiaries for a 3-month period. This
health kit will be transported to Point Pedro
Hospital. There is also a small medical detachment in
Galle supporting U.S. forces.


10. On January 17, the USAID/DART LO posted to the
airport coordinated the receipt and transfer of 1,000
rolls of plastic sheeting and 10,000 water containers
to GOAL and Community Habitat Finance (CHF). The
relief supplies were equally divided between the two
NGOs. The plastic sheeting will be used by GOAL on
the proposed U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) temporary housing shelter program in
Hambantota and Matara districts in southern Sri Lanka
and Ampara District in southeastern Sri Lanka. The
plastic sheeting provided to CHF will be brought to
Galle for storage prior to the building of temporary
shelters throughout the Southern Province.


11. As of January 17, there are 1,594 U.S. Military
personnel operating in Sri Lanka. Between January 4
and January 15, the U.S. military completed 58 flights
carrying relief supplies within Sri Lanka.

--------------
Health
--------------


12. According to WHO, as of January 16 there have
been no disease outbreaks reported in Sri Lanka.
Approximately 10 days ago an entire camp in Galle was
vaccinated in response to 1 confirmed case of measles.
WHO epidemiologists in Galle state that with
increasing numbers of people leaving camps, it will
become more difficult to sustain disease surveillance
in a more dispersed population. At a January 17 CNO
meeting, a Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
representative advised that there is no threat of
communicable diseases from mass graves.

--------------
Water and Sanitation
--------------


13. On January 14, the USAID/DART Water and
Sanitation Officer (WSO) attended a NGO coordination
meeting at the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF). The
USAID/DART WSO reported that progress is being made on
the development of hygiene education materials.
UNICEF currently has representatives working in the
nine affected districts in Sri Lanka, and NGO
coordination meetings are being held in these
districts at least once a week. The USAID/DART WSO
reported that there is limited information on water
and sanitation issues originating at the district
level. The resources available for water testing,
number of wells cleaned, and number of latrines
constructed are not well documented. The USAID/DART
WSO will continue to encourage NGO partners to provide
assessments and reports to UNICEF and the Ministry of
Urban Development and Water Supply.

--------------
Food
--------------


14. On January 15, the U.S. Ambassador, USAID/Colombo
Mission Director, and members of the USAID/DART met
with the Executive Director of the U.N. World Food
Program (WFP). To date, WFP has dispatched enough
food in Sri Lanka to feed 750,000 people and plans to
continue food distributions through June.
Approximately 25 percent of WFP funding for Sri Lanka
will be used to finance logistical operations. WFP
currently has three field offices in Sri Lanka in
Kilinochichi (north),Vavuniya (north),and Batticaloa
(east). WFP is also planning to establish an
additional five field offices in Ampara (southeast),
Galle (south),Mullaitivu and Jaffna districts
(north),and Trincomalee (east). To respond to the
emergency, WFP has also increased the number of staff
in Sri Lanka and currently has 109 people working on
the island.

--------------
Livelihoods
--------------


15. According to the U.N., the tsunami destroyed more
than 80 percent of Sri Lanka's fishing fleet, and
close to 18,500 fishing vessels were lost or damaged.
The tsunami killed more than 7,500 fishermen, and
5,600 fishermen are still missing. The tsunami also
displaced an additional 90,000 fishermen. The
USAID/DART has programmed USD 10,000,000 for cash-for-
work programs in affected areas to allow beneficiaries
to meet their own prioritized needs and to create
purchasing power in their communities.


16. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
has contributed USD 9 million to resurrect the fishing
and agricultural sectors in Sri Lanka. FAO is
currently conducting an assessment of the damage and
reported that 66 percent of the fishery industry was
affected by the disaster. The FAO also reported that
the tsunami damaged 10 out of 12 fishery harbors, and
there is an urgent need to repair the damaged ports.

--------------
Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment
--------------


17. In the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunamis,
the UNDAC team initiated a rapid assessment of
environmental conditions to provide information for
the planning and management of relief and recovery
operations. This assessment was conducted by UNDAC,
CARE, and partially funded by USAID. The assessment
began with field observations and consultations by an
UNDAC member and was followed by a formal REA which
started on January 7 and is currently being completed.


18. The key findings of the assessment include the
following:

a)the tsunami did not result in air or water
pollution which could not be addressed by
emergency operations.
b)the disposal of debris and waste from the
tsunamis is not taking place in an

SIPDIS
environmentally friendly manner and will
l
probably result in future environmental
problems.
c)sanitation is a major challenge in locations
where tsunami victims are currently lodged and
in proposed temporary camps. A key cause of
this problem is the high water table in coastal
areas, which reduced the effectiveness of
latrines.


19. The key initial recommendations include:

a)implement a program to manage the collection and
disposal of tsunami-caused debris and waste
materials in an environmentally friendly manner,
based on recycling and composting and a labor
intensive public works approach (this has been
piloted in Galle by the local government).
b)increase the means available to address the
sanitation problems arising from the use of
latrines in areas with high water tables.
c)increase the flow of information to tsunami
survivors to allow them to make well-informed
decisions on their own recovery actions and to
reduce unnecessary exploitation of natural
resources.


--------------
USAID/DART Staffing
--------------
---


20. As of January 17, there are 12 members of the
USAID/DART in Sri Lanka. Of the 12 USAID/DART
members, one individual is in Galle and another team
member is in Male, Maldives.
LUNSTEAD