In Pictures: Heavy rains compound IDP woes
VAVUNIYA, 17 August 2009 (IRIN) - Heavy rains exacerbated poor conditions for hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) in northern Sri Lanka over the weekend.
“We’re not prepared for this. I’m afraid things are going to get much worse,” one international medical officer told IRIN in Vavuniya on 17 August, citing concerns over diarrhoea, dysentery and other waterborne diseases.
“From an epidemiological point of view, this is a public health disaster waiting to happen.”
Heavy rains pummeled residents of Menik Farm camp this weekend. The camp holds more than 200,000 conflict-displaced
More than 280,000 people live in 30 government camps in Vavuniya, Mannar, Jaffna and Trincomalee districts after fleeing fighting between government forces and the now defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May.
Of these, 246,000 are in 14 heavily guarded camps in Vavuniya, mostly in Menik Farm, a sprawling 809ha site divided into six zones about 50km outside Vavuniya, which quickly became a sea of mud and misery when the rains struck.
According to camp authorities, Zone 1 and 4 were the worst affected. Of some 37,000 residents in Zone 4, more than half were badly affected, with tents designed for five and now housing 12 inundated.
Residents in Menik Farm take shelter wherever they can - including latrines
Limited facilities Photo: Contributor/IRIN
Mud and misery
“Within 20 minutes the whole area was flooded. Every tent was affected,” said Ganeshan Sivasundram, 38, from Kanagapuram Village in Kilinochchi District outside his flooded tent in Zone 4. “How are we supposed to sleep like this?”
“Everything is wet,” Singaratnam Ruban, 41, from Jeyapuram Village in Kilinochchi District, who has lived in the camp since March with his family, complained.
In Zone 1, where residents are living in semi-permanent sheds, toilets quickly overflowed.
“All the toilets are flooded. Human excrement is floating everywhere,” said Maniam Yogapragash, 33, a resident.
“The water supply system is minimal, the excrement disposal system is pretty basic and the land is flat so what was once dust has now turned to mud,” said one aid worker, who asked not to be identified. He talked about double amputees trying to get around in the mud and children playing in excrement.
“Yes, there are latrines being dug, yes, there is water being piped and tanked, and yes, the Ministry of Health is making huge efforts. But you have to remember, you have a city of over 200,000 here, most of whom live in tents. It’s simply not enough,” he said.
“We have provided cooked meals for the affected people and we are preparing to relocate the people if the situation becomes worse,” Vavuniya’s government agent, CHM Charles, reportedly said.
Within minutes, the camps became a sea of mud and misery - and a breeding ground for waterborne diseases - “When the [vegetation] was cleared for the camp, little attention was paid to how water might flow in and out of the area,” one resident said. Photo: Contributor/IRIN
But according to international aid workers returning from the field on Sunday evening, that time has come.
“Menik Farm is well named. The place is complete chaos,” one international aid worker who also asked not to be identified, told IRIN. “If you think this is bad, the monsoon rains will be 50 times worse,” he said.
Monsoon rains on this part of the island are expected in September and generally last two to three months, making the weekend’s flooding seem like “a walk in the park”, residents say.
Report by IRIN-a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
8 Comments
Dear Fellow Sri Lankans,
Please consider the plight of these Sri Lankans, and tell the govt. to expedite there release.
SHAME ON YOU SRI LANKA! IS THIS THE BROTHERHOOD AND PATRIOTISM WE TALK ABOUT?
It is not as if the regular monsoon flooding has taken the GOSL by surprise.
So knowing that this sort of flooding was going to happen soon, the GOSL still went ahead and incarcerated these people there ... it does makes one wonder!
(P.S I notice that some of my comments to other articles have not been posted, perhaps censored. However I am still posting this for things need to be said ... a matter of conscience )
T
he racists and terrorists are those who butchered several thousand Tamil civilians in STATE-SPONSORED POGROMS, like the infamous “Black July of 1983″ - the rogue state of Sinhala fascist, pseudo-Buddhist Lanka!
The racists and terrorists are those who BURNED down the Jaffna Public Library - the rogue state of Sinhala fascist, pseudo-Buddhist Lanka!
The racists and terrorists are those who proudly and disgustingly claim that they have bombed Tamil civilians from the air with explosives amounting to GREATER THAN THE ATOMIC WEAPONS dropped on Japan - the rogue state of Sinhala fascist, pseudo-Buddhist Lanka!
The racists and terrorists are those who have the dubious distinction of CARPET-BOMBING and using CLUSTER BOMBS AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS on those who they claim as “their own civilians” - the rogue state of Sinhala fascist, pseudo-Buddhist Lanka!
The racists and terrorists are those who have claim that the island of Ceylon belongs ONLY to the Sinhalese - the rogue state of Sinhala fascist, pseudo-Buddhist Lanka!
The racists and terrorists are those who have committed the worst GENOCIDE and WAR CRIMES of the 21st century - the rogue state of Sinhala fascist, pseudo-Buddhist Lanka!
The racists and terrorists are those who have confined 300,000 civilians to CONCENTRATION CAMPS - the rogue state of Sinhala fascist, pseudo-Buddhist Lanka!
The racists and terrorists are those who BUTCHER their own journalists and international aid-workers - the rogue state of Sinhala fascist, pseudo-Buddhist Lanka!
The racist and terrorist is the one who blindly and shameless supports all of the above - and that is YOU!!!
Will MR and Co. switch places with these unfortunate people? Does this person who is lying in the toilet looks like a TERRORIST for him? How long will it take for them to find out? Let the world decide who the real TERRORIST are after seeing these pictures. Or will they still take the side of the oppressors just because they are elected by whatever means!!! (I mean vote rigging, intimidation, bribery etc.etc.)
Even nature is on the side of the STATE TERRORISTS!!!
When the government proposed building Housing out of Concrete and brick, the Tamil Diaspora Shouted that this was a Sinister Plot to make this a permanent Detention for their Beloved MAKKAL PADAI Tamils of Eelam... Now when the MONSOONS hit and the very reason for building such structures materializes the Tamil Diaspora shouts 'FOUL' at the government again...
But the Tamil Diaspora who support the LTTE with their money will never support the Tamils of the North because they are no longer under the control of the Tigers and the last thing the TAMIL DIASPORA wants is for the Suffering of the Tamils in the North to cease,... so that the Government can get the credit... they want these people to Suffer more... so they can take pictures and go around making Noise to White countries to try and bring Sri Lanka down...
The govt. decided to build concrete buildings so that MR and his clan who are the contractors can make money, not because they wanted the unfortunate people to live confortably. Why did'nt they think of building those concrete houses in these people's villages? That would be economical and the people also can go in their own houses and village. Why are they not allowing the people to go and live with their family members? Lot of them have siblings, parents, children, aunts and uncles, cousins and friens who are willing to accomodate them.
How many of the commentators know that there are thousands of Tamils languishing in jail withou any charges laid for years and years. any explanation? This can only happen in SRI LANKA!!! a land like no other!!!! Where Lord Budha is seated in every nook and corner, but his preaching is thrown out by the so called followers. They put up a show whenver there is a Budhist festival, without adhering to Budhist principles!!!!They cry for baby elephants, but how many human beings are killed daily in this Budhist nation?
I strongly suspect that Devinda Fernando has thrust his head firmly and deeply up his very own own posterior orifice.
Thus he sees only what he alone can see!