Recovering from a Disaster a Study of the Relief and Reconstruction Process in Sri Lanka After the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
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Recovering from a disaster A Study of the Relief and Reconstruction Process in Sri Lanka After the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami Arne Olav Øyhus Recovering from a disaster_forsats.indd 3 2016-11-08 09:48:15 Recovering from a disaster Recovering from a disaster A study of the relief and reconstruction process in Sri Lanka after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami Arne Olav Øyhus Editor © Arne Olav Øyhus, 2016 ISBN: 978-82-0256-835-1 This work is protected under the provisions of the Norwegian Copyright Act (Act No. 2 of May 12, 1961, relating to Copyright in Literary, Scientific and Artistic Works) and published Open Access under the terms of a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This license allows third parties to freely copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format as well as remix, transform or build upon the material for any purpose, including commercial purposes, provided the work is properly attributed to the author(s), including a link to the license, and any changes that may have been made are thoroughly indicated. The attribution can be provided in any reasonable manner, however, in no way that suggests the author(s) or the publisher endorses the third party or the third party’s use of the work. Third parties are prohibited from applying legal terms or technological measures that restrict others from doing anything permitted under the terms of the license. Note that the license may not provide all of the permissions necessary for an intended reuse; other rights, for example publicity, privacy, or moral rights, may limit third party use of the material. Design and typesetting: Have a book Font: Sabon Pro 10,5/13,3 pkt. Cover photo: Raja Segar/Creative Commons Photos: Page 54: Foto: Raveendran / AFP / NTB scanpix. Page 143: Foto: Dennis M. Sabangan / EPA / NTB scanpix Portal Akademisk Cappelen Damm Akademisk/NOASP List of Contents Part I The Tsunami: What happened and why? Chapter 1: Introduction 18 Arne Olav Øyhus Chapter 2: The Indian Ocean Tsunami and its direct aftermath 21 Arne Olav Øyhus Chapter 3: Interpreting the natural disasters and their impacts: Some theoretical considerations 31 Arne Olav Øyhus Part II Hambantota Case Studies Chapter 4: Introducing the case studies 54 Arne Olav Øyhus Chapter 5: The Disaster – an Act of God? 58 Kerenina Dansholm Kezarides, Susann Midling, Kitty Monostory, and Wopara Goodness Ruhuoma, in association with Thuwan Zulfikar Ali (HDCC co-ordinator) Chapter 6: The Golden Wave? 72 Sanaa Talha, Schola Busingye, Sehrish Noor, and Anne Lie Nordberg, in association with Rimzana Shazin (HDCC coordinator) Chapter 7: Bonds or Bridges? 92 Sandra Baldvinsson Sotkajærvi, Maria Sjuve, Pia Cecilie Wedø, Rebecca Plath, Edwin Wuadom WardenWoode and Hilary A. Enyiekere in association with Damith Priyantha (HDCC coordinator) Chapter 8: Back to business? 112 Brennan Purtzer, Didier Nduwayo, Harald Bang-Braaten Thoresen, Suman Nepal, and Thorbjørn Waal Lundsgaard in association with Kumara Kaldera (HDCC coordinator) Part III Lessons learnt and what’s next Chapter 9: Comparing Findings 130 Arne Olav Øyhus Chapter 10: The next chapter 147 Arne Olav Øyhus and Kim Øvland Background Since 2006, the University of Agder (UIA), Norway and Ruhuna University (RU), Sri Lanka have collaborated on a study regarding the impact of the Indian Ocean Tsu- nami (IOT) of 2004 with a particular focus on the Southern province of Sri Lanka. In June 2014, ten years after the Tsunami, a group of 20 postgraduate students from Asia, Africa, Europe and the USA, attending the international master programme in Development Management at the UIA, conducted a field study in the Hambantota District in the “Deep South” of Sri Lanka. The study was led by a professor, and got a lot of administrative support from the Hambantota District Chamber of Commerce (HDCC). The objective of the study was to analyse the impact of the recovery pro- cess among the local people and communities, and to explore to what degree they had managed to rehabilitate and reconstruct their communities ten years after this very dramatic event, and the obstacles faced in the rehabilitation process. The investigation examined which activities and agencies had functioned well in the recovery and rehabilitation process, and which did not function well. The study focused on four target groups, the Hambantota fishing community, a local village called Kirinda, the tourist industry in Tangalle town, and business people from Hambantota town. According to the findings from the study, the most important and well-functioning agents in the direct aftermath of the disaster were the local people themselves. The study also revealed a general sentiment among the local people that government authorities, both at a national, and local level, had not played a very active and progressive role in the recovery process, especially during the relief operations following immediately after the tsunami. The role played by international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) was, in general, applauded. Findings from the study show that today, ten years after the Tsunami, the local peo- ple have, to a great extent, managed to re-establish the communities, raise new houses, build new infrastructure etc., but that the more invisible damages such as, for instance, psychological stress have still not healed. Quite importantly, the study detects that a lot of disputes and irregularities have hampered the recovery process. Acknowledgements This study is based on a long-term collaboration between the University of Agder and our partners in Sri Lanka, the University of Ruhuna (UR), and the Hambantota District Chamber of Commerce (HDCC). The partnership between our three insti- tutions has included not only collaboration on research, but also training, student exchange, and much, much more. When we embarked on our Tsunami research in 2006, the then Vice-Chancellor (VC), Professor Ranjith Senaratne, was extremely helpful, engaged and motivated. His good spirit and high level of energy were absolutely instrumental in founding the basis for our collaboration. It was Ranjith who, in 2006, signed the application to the Norwegian Programme for Develop- ment, Research and Education (NUFU) on behalf of UR. The other signatory partner from UR was the person who became the most important person in the ten years of collaboration between our two universities, Professor Danny Atapattu. Surely, we could not have continued this fruitful partnership without his very, very active involvement. Danny is a rather quiet and humble person in appearance, but he is extremely efficient at achieving practical results. In a Sri Lankan context he is respected as “the” senior professor in economics and management studies. We are very happy for the seamless take-over of the coordination responsibilities over the last three-four years by Dr. B.M. Sumanaratne. We have noticed with great satisfac- tion that his motivation and eagerness is at the same level as Danny’s. After Ran- jith left his position as VC, the two next Vs, Professor Susirith Mendis and Professor Garmini Senanyake have committed UR to continue the good collaboration, of which we are surely grateful. To have a partner like the HDCC has made UIA’s engagement in Sri Lanka a great pleasure. The HDCC has for years prepared the foundation for the field exer- cises that are a compulsory part of our international Masters programme in Devel- opment Management (DM). Since 2009, HDCC has arranged field exercises and home-stays for about 20 international students every year; students coming from more than 20 countries in Africa, Asia, North and South America, and Europe. We must here mention that it was HDCC that arranged the field exercise that formed the basis for this study. In addition, HDCC has been the host receiving our Bachelor students during their field courses. At HDCC there are, in particular, two persons we Acknowledgements 11 are especially grateful to. The first is the legendary, charismatic and iconic leader through 20 years, Mr. Azmi Thassim. Just to meet Azmi is an event; being his friend, is an honour. Azmi has been a close friend of Norway since the Hambantota Inte- grated Rural Development Programme was initiated in 1979, and he still is. Just about a month ago, he formally became the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Saudi Ara- bia, and is now officially H.E. Azmi Thassim. Congratulations! The other person at HDCC whom we are extremely thankful to is Ms Krishanti Weerasinghe who was the CEO when we conducted this study. Although having a slightly lower profile than Azmi, she has been a key resource in the partnership between UIA and HDCC for the last three or four years, and has done a perfect job for our students and staff. We are so grateful for the assistance that Doreen Misanya has contributed by proof reading and upgrading the text. Last, but not at all least, we have to thank “the jack of all trades” and our main service man, Mr. Ajith Wasantha Liyanage. Ajith was working with HDCC when he was recruited to the DM Masters programme. After successfully completing the programme in 2012, he became “our man in Sri Lanka”. Ajith has made contacts, arrangements, booked hotels, coordinating the field exercises, etc., etc. We have depended 100 % on his services, and he has never let us down!!!! Thanks so much to all of you! Best regards Arne Olav Øyhus List of Acronyms ADB Asian Development Bank ADPC Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre AGD Audit General Department ASPIC Portuguese Association for Cancer Research