Horse Way to the Tea Garden (left) and the flooded main access road during heavy rain (right).
Photos: Fernando, 2007.
One villager living in Amalagama (an old village) gave a short description of type of people living in the area: “most of the families living in this area are Buddhists who
belong to the Govigama caste, some Karawa and Durawa (traditional occupation of this caste is toddy tapping). There are only a few Tamil families. Most of the families earn an income from their small plots with tea shrubs or paddy cultivation. There are a few families whose members are engaged in government jobs and some work in the privately owned shoe factory close by. As a child I can still remember, that initially there were rubber trees and tea shrubs and then, palm trees on the land which was used to build the
Tea Garden tsunami village. However, the new-comers living in the tsunami village are engaged in fishing and they do not have the knowledge of tea or paddy cultivation.”
With regard to the characteristics of the housing units, each house contains two bed rooms, a living room, a small kitchen and a toilet, has running water and electricity and is built on a ten perch land parcel. As for the common infrastructure, the settlement includes a Buddhist temple. A plot of land has been allocated to build a community centre but no land has been allocated for a play ground. According to the GN officer’s statistics, the total population of this settlement was about 450 in 2007. The construction work of this settlement began in April 2005 and was completed within eighteen months by three local contractors under the supervision of the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry.
Table 6: Overview of the Study Villages
Katupolwaththa Cinnamon Garden Tea Garden
Distance from Galle city 8.5 km 10.5km 11.5km
Distance from settlement to the main bus stop
1.5 km 50m 1.5
DS Division Akmeemana Akmeemana Akmeemana
Total area allocated per resettlement 8 hectares 6 hectares 15 hectares
Area allocated per house 10 perch 8 perch 10 perch
Total number of houses 78 145 135
Source: GN officer Katupolwaththa, Cinnamon Garden and Tea Garden statistics (2007); additional own data.
4
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This section examines the basic socio-economic and demographic characteristics, such as ethnicity, religion, age, gender, marital status, education level, current activity status, main source of income, and land ownership of the sample household population in each of the three study settlements.
4
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The ethnic and religious composition of the study population reveals that a significant proportion of household members belong to the Sinhalese ethnic group and Buddhist religion (see Table 7). These percentages are slightly higher than the Census 2001 data
for Galle district (94.4% and 94.1% respectively). There is not a single Moor ethnic group member in the sample population. This could be because the tsunami affected Moors living in Galle city refused to relocate to the settlements situated in Akmeemana Divisional Secretary Division as there is no mosque in the vicinity of these new settlements38.
Table 7: Ethnicity and Religion of Sample Households by Location
Location Ethnicity Overall (%)1 Katupolwaththa (%)2 Cinnamon Garden (%)3 Tea Garden (%)4 Sinhala 97.6 94.2 97.2 100 Tamil 2.4 5.8 2.8 - Religion Buddhist 95.8 88 97.2 98.8 Hindu 2.4 6 2.8
Christian & other Catholics
1.6 6 - 1.2
Notes: valid n1=671, n2=139, n3=289, n4=243. Source: Field Survey.
4
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As for gender, a slightly higher proportion of females live in the Cinnamon Garden (51.2%) and Tea Garden settlements (51.4%) compared to their male counterparts, which is similar to the national pattern and the Galle district census percentages in 2001. On the other hand, an equal proportion of males and females live in Katupolwaththa settlement (see Table 8).
In relation to age distribution, a slightly higher proportion of old age people (65 or more) live in Cinnamon Garden (6%) settlement compared to the people living in Katupolwaththa (5%) and Tea Garden (5%) settlements. On the other hand, a slightly higher proportion of children belonging to 0-14 age cohort live in Katupolwaththa settlement (see Table 8). Nevertheless, the highest dependency rate is reported from Katupolwaththa (56%) which is slightly higher than the overall dependency rate of 52%
38
This was revealed in some interviews conducted with the government and affected moor ethnic members in Katugoda GN division in the Galle city, which is one of the severely affected GN divisions of the Galle Four Gravets Divisional Secretary with a considerable proportion of Moor ethnic community members.
and compared to the dependency rates of the other settlements (Tea Garden 50% and Cinnamon Garden 52% respectively). The overall child dependency rate (43%) is significantly higher than the old age dependency rate (9.2%) which is similar at the settlement level. This shows the main reason for the growing dependency ratio overall and at the settlement level in particular is owing to a significant proportion of children (0- 14 age group) in the household population.
Table 8: Gender and Age distribution of Sample Households by Location
Location Gender Overall (%)1 Katupolwaththa (%)2 Cinnamon Garden (%)3 Tea Garden (%)4 Male 49 50.4 48.8 48.6 Female 51 49.6 51.2 51.4 Age 0-14 28.2 31 26 28 15-64 65.7 64 66 67 65+ 6.1 5 8 5
Notes: valid n1=671, n2=139, n3=289, n4=243. Source: Field Survey
4
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In relation to the overall picture, over half (nearly 51%) of the household members were never married, while 43.1% are legally married. With regard to location specific variations, a slightly higher proportion of unmarried household members (mainly children and youth) live in Cinnamon Garden (nearly 55%). It is noteworthy, that 5% of household members are widowed, which is slightly higher compared to Galle district census data in 2001 (3.2%). The main reason for this could be the death of their partners owing to the tsunami (see Table 9).
Table 9: Marital Status of Sample Households by Location
Location
Marital Status Overall
(%)1 Katupolwaththa (%)2 Cinnamon Garden (%)3 Tea Garden (%)4 Never married 50.8 48.9 54.7 47.3 Married registered 43.1 43.2 40.1 46.5 Married customary 0.4 2.2 - - Legally separated 0.7 0.7 0.3 1.2 Widowed 4.9 5.0 4.8 4.9
Notes: valid n1=671, n2=139, n3=289, n4=243. Source: Field Survey
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The overall picture of educational attainment of household members shows that a majority of them have a post-primary level of education (38%), while 14.5% have primary level education and 4.5% have no formal education. In contrast, 30% have passed Ordinary Level (O/L) and only 12% have passed Advanced Level (A/L). In regard to location, it is clear that a slightly higher proportion of household members with primary, post primary and without formal education live in Katupolwaththa, while more household members with A/L and Degree or higher level education live in Cinnamon Garden. Moreover, a higher proportion of household members with O/L live in Tea Garden (see Table 10). On the basis of this data it is important to conclude that households with a reasonable level of educational attainment (O/L or more) live in Cinnamon Garden and Tea Garden.
Table 10: Educational Attainment of Sample Households* by Location
Location
Education Level Overall
(%)1 Katupolwaththa (%)2 Cinnamon Garden (%)3 Tea Garden (%)4 No Formal Education 4.5 8.2 1.7 5.6 Primary (1-5) 14.5 17.6 11.3 16.3 Secondary (6-10) 38 42.4 41.8 30.6 G.C.E. (O\L) 30 25.9 25.4 36.3 G.C.E (A\L) 12 4.7 17.5 10.6 Degree or Higher 1 1.2 2.3 0.6
Notes: * excluding household members presently in school, and non- schooling age children below 5 yrs age, valid n1=422, n2=85, n3=177, n4=160. Source: Field Survey
4
4..22..55..CCuurrrreennttAAccttiivviittyySSttaattuuss
It is clear from the statistics that almost 30% of household members are employed. A slightly higher proportion of household members in Tea Garden are employed (30.5%). The highest unemployment rate is reported from Katupolwaththa (13.7%) which higher than both the overall rate (10.3%) and the Galle district rate (11%). Household members attend school is slightly higher in Cinnamon Garden (31%) than the other settlements (see Table 11).
Table 11: Current Activity Status of Sample Households by Location
Location Activity Overall (%)1 Katupolwaththa (%)2 Cinnamon Garden (%)3 Tea Garden (%)4 Student 27.4 28 31 23 Employed 28.9 27.3 28 30.5 Unemployed 10.3 13.7 10 9.1 Household workers 19.4 17.3 18 22.2 Disable\Retired\Children < 5yrs 14 13.7 13 15.2
Notes: valid n1=671, n2=139, n3=289, n4=243. Source: Field Survey
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4..22..66..IInnccoommeeEEaarrnniinnggAAccttiivviittiieess
Initially, when examining the overall income earning activities of the employed population in all three forced relocation sites, nearly one fourth of household members were engaged as daily paid labourers (25.9%), which is higher than the Galle district census data for 2001 (19.5%). Another one fifth of household members engaged in small scale business, such as mobile vendors, as well as payment hawkers (21.4%). There were 18.4% of household members engaged in service, shop, market and sales related income earning activities and another 17.4% in fishery related activities. Considering the overall distribution of income earning activities of employed household members, it is important to conclude that the majority of their income earning activities belong to the informal sector.
When looking into location specific variations of income earning activities of household members, some interesting patterns emerged. For instance, a higher proportion of household members engaged as labourers or in small scale business activities (nearly 36% and nearly 31% respectively) live in Katupolwaththa. A large proportion of household members engaged in the fishery sector live in Tea Garden (22.1%), while 25% of residents in Cinnamon Garden are engaged in service, shop, market and sales activities. What is important to note is that the household members engaged as professionals or clerks is very low. Nevertheless, the majority of people engaged in this sector live in Cinnamon Garden (see Table 12).
Table 12: Income Earning Activity of Employed Sample Households by Location Location Major Occupational Groups Overall (%)1 Katupolwaththa (%)2 Cinnamon Garden (%)3 Tea Garden (%)4 Professionals 2 - 4.7 - Clerks 4 - 7.1 2.6
Service, shop, market & sales work
18.4 12.8 24.7 14.3
Fishery 17.4 17.9 12.9 22.1
Craft related, machine operators
8.5 2.6 10.6 9.1
Labourers 25.9 35.9 20 27.3
Small scale business 21.4 30.8 15.3 23.4
Pensioners 2.5 - 4.7 1.3
Notes: valid n1=201, n2=139, n3=289, n4=243. Source: Field Survey
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No relocatees living in any of the three research locations have yet received legal deeds to their new land and house, although there are several pledges from the government officers, as well as politicians in the area, to speed up the process (see section 7.2.7 for more information). Nevertheless, it is important to explore the types of ownership of land and houses that relocatees occupied before the tsunami.
Government policy and implementation guidelines issued to various tsunami affected district secretariats on tsunami housing development clearly stated that, “only householders who previously resided in the buffer zone with legal ownership to land were entitled to receive new houses in the new settlements situated outside the buffer zone” (Presidential Secretariat, 2005:4). However, there were continuous requests to the government from the squatters who settled illegally on government land in the buffer zone area, before the tsunami. They begged the government to consider them for new houses with secure land titles in the new settlements. This was later granted by the officials. In this context, it is evident from the data that the encroachers who stayed in the buffer zone also obtained houses in the new relocation sites. For instance, a significant proportion of the encroachers who previously lived in the buffer zone are now living in
72
Katupolwaththa (51.6%). The largest proportion of people that formerly owned land prior to the tsunami are now living in Cinnamon Garden (69%) (see Table 13).
Table 13: Previous Land Ownership by Location
Location
Type of ownership Overall
(%)1 Katupolwaththa (%)2 Cinnamon Garden (%)3 Tea Garden (%)4 Owned 60.1 45.2 69 59.3 Rented 2.8 3.2 3.4 1.9 Encroached 37.1 51.6 27.6 38.9
Notes: valid n1=143, n2=31, n3=58, n4=54. Source: Field Survey
In conclusion on the basis of the above discussion of salient socio-economic features of households across the three relocation settlements, a higher proportion of people of the Katupolwaththa settlement reported low educational attainment (primary, post primary and no formal level of education), were engaged as labourers and small scale business operators as their main income earning activities, had no legal entitlement to land before the tsunami, and reported higher unemployment and dependency rates compared to Cinnamon Garden and Tea Garden. In other words, more poor households can be seen in Katupolwaththa (see section 6.2.1.).
5. The Impact of the Tsunami and the Forced Relocation Process
This chapter is divided into two parts: the first part attempts to examine the macro scale socio-economic impact caused by the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka, based on secondary data, while the second part will make an attempt to explore the forced relocation process using both sample household interviews with relocatees in the three study locations and key informant interviews with government officials who were involved in the relocation process.5
5..11..UUnneevveennGGeeooggrraapphhiiccaallIImmppaaccttoofftthheeTTssuunnaammii
The tsunami struck a relatively thin, but long stretch of over two thirds of Sri Lanka's coastal line from Jaffna in the north, the entire eastern and southern coast, and a part of the west coast. Thirteen out of fourteen districts situated along the coastal belt were affected. Almost half of the DS Divisions in Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts of the Eastern Province and one third of DS Divisions in Hambanthota and Galle districts of the Southern Province were affected. While only a negligible number of DS Divisions in the Gampaha (1%) and Puttlam (0.2%) districts were affected (see Table 14).
Table 14: Tsunami Affected Districts by DS and GN Divisions
Source: Department of Census and Statistics: 2005
District Total No. of DS
Divisions No. of DS Divisions Affected Total No. of GN Divisions Total No. of GN Divisions Affected Ampara 20 10 508 125 (24%) Trincomalee 11 6 230 55(24%) Batticaloa 14 8 348 68(23.7%) Hambanthota 11 4 576 33(5.8%) Matara 16 3 650 71(11%) Galle 18 6 895 132(15%) Killinochchi 4 3 95 9(9.5%) Mullativ 5 1 127 18(14.2%) Jaffna 16 2 435 31(7%) Kalutara 14 3 762 54(7.1%) Colombo 13 5 557 30(5.4%) Gampaha 13 2 1177 13(1%) Putlam 16 1 548 1(0.2%)
The preliminary assessment of damages as a result of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, estimated that Sri Lanka suffered around USD1 billion (4.5 per cent of GDP) damage to assets alone (Jayasuriya et al., 2005). The economic impact of the tsunami to the Sri Lankan national economy is limited to 1% of GDP39. However, the affected provinces constitute a large proportion of the population (26%) (ADB, et al., 2005). The following section will outline and analyse the macro scale socio-economic impact caused by the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka under the following themes: deaths and displacement, damage to housing, loss of income earning activities and damage to infrastructure.
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Eastern Province was one of the worst affected provinces and reported the highest number of deaths (14,354) and displaced persons (218,727), while Ampara as a single district of this province reported the highest number of deaths (10,436) and injured
39
The tsunami is expected to slow down GDP growth in 2005 by up to 1% from an original government estimate of 6%. The relatively limited impact is due to the fact that the most affected sectors of the economy, namely fishing, hotels and restaurants, together contribute only 3% of GDP. The construction sector is expected to grow from an average of 5.5% in the recent past to 8 to 10% in the next three years.
persons (5,762). Southern (10,056 and 159,105 respectively) and Northern Provinces (6,230 and 64,067 respectively) reported the second and third highest deaths and displacements. However, Galle as a single district of the Southern Province reported the highest number of displaced persons (128,077) (see Table 15).
The number of women and children among the dead seem to be disproportionately high (IPS, 2005b; Birkmann et al., 2007). More than nine hundred children became orphans or separated from their parents (ADB et al., 2005). Most of the children who survived also lost their schools, homes and their entire way of life (UNICEF, 2005). In addition, the tsunami wiped out many important documents such as deeds40 birth and marriage certificates, identification cards, passports, and educational certificates etc.
Table 15: Number of Tsunami Affected People by District and Province (as at 25.1.2005)
District/Province Deaths* Injured Displaced Persons**
Ampara 10,436 5,762 75,172 Trincomalee 1,078 1,426 81,643 Batticaloa 2,840 1,925 61,912 Eastern Province 14,354 9,113 218,727 Hambantota 4,500 1,236 17,723 Matara 1,342 3,654 13,305 Galle 4,214 3,564 128,077 Southern Province 10,056 8,454 159,105 Killinochchi 590 3*** 1,603 Mullativ 3,000 3,904 22,557 Jaffna 2,640 1,775 39,907 Northern Province 6,230 5,682 64,067 Kalutara 256 711 27713 Colombo 79 452 31239 Gampaha 6 109 1449 Western Province 341 1272 60401 Puttalam 4 NR 66
North Western Province 4 - 66
Notes: NR- Not Reported, * without missing persons, ** people staying in IDP camps or staying with relatives and friends, ***.
Source: Department of Census and Statistics: 2005.
40
Records of property ownership.
5
5..11..22DDaammaaggeettooHHoouussiinngg
Housing is commonly identified as a basic need and is also considered an important productive asset (Moser, 1998). When examining the damage caused to housing units as a result of the tsunami, 13% of the housing stock in the administrative divisions along the coast were either completely or partially damaged. The Asian Development Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation and the World Bank (2005) jointly compiled a preliminary damage and needs assessment report which revealed that more than 130,000 housing units in the thirteen tsunami affected districts were damaged, of which more than 99,480 were completely damaged. The report further estimated that USD 437 million would be required for the reconstruction and rebuilding of damaged or destroyed housing stock. However, Census and Statistics report (2005) showed a lesser number of (93,148) housing units41 were damaged42, of which 52,413 (56%) were completely or partially damaged (unusable). Further to this report, when examining the pattern of damages to houses in each province some interesting patterns emerged. For instance, nearly half of the completely damaged or partially damaged (unusable) housing units were reported from (25,535) the Eastern Province followed by another 20% from Southern and 18% from Northern Provinces (see Table 16). Moreover, most of the completely damaged or partially damaged unusable houses were situated within 500 meters of the coast.
41
In order to consider building unit as a housing unit, it should be a place of dwelling of human beings, should be separated from other places of dwelling and should have a separate entrance (Census, 2005:2) 42
Fully damaged, partially damaged (unusable) and partially damaged (usable) housing units only were considered damaged.
Table 16: Housing Units Damaged by District
Source: Department of Census and Statistics: 2005.
Housing Units
District/Province Completely Damaged Partially Damaged
(Unusable) Partially Damaged (Usable) Total Ampara 9,573 2,792 8,836 21,201 Trincomalee 4,691 1,037 3,646 9,374 Batticaloe 5,487 1,955 6,429 13,781 Eastern Province 19,751 5,784 18,911 44,446 Hambantota 1,218 304 1,019 2,541 Matara 1,804 708 4,042 6,554 Galle 4,885 1,115 6,645 1,2645 Southern Province 7,907 2,127 11,706 21,740 Killinochchi 294 - - 294 Mullativ 4,564 627 509 5,700 Jaffna 3,819 291 2099 6,209 Northern Province 8,677 918 2,608 12,203 Kalutara 2,386 512 3,799 6,697 Colombo 3,313 646 3,039 6,998 Gampaha 290 87 629 1,006 Western Province 5,989 1,245 7,467 14,701 Puttalam 12 15 31 58
North Western Province 12 15 31 58
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An estimated 150,000 people lost their main source of income: at least 50% of them were employed in the fishery sector43, 45% in tourism and related services and the remaining 5% in agriculture and livestock (IPS, 2005a; GOSL, 2005a). The International Labour Organization (ILO, 2005) conducted a survey in the affected areas and also confirmed the fishery sector as the worst affected. It is noteworthy that 5,000 fishermen lost their lives (GOSL, 2005a) and nearly 90,000 of fisher families were displaced due to loss of houses and other household assets (ADB et al., 2005). Over 19,00044 fishing boats (75% of the fishing fleet), such as fishing vessels, rafts (theppam), large fibreglass or wooden sea canoes (oru), fibreglass day boats with outboard or inboard engines, and multi use day
43
Fish workers (labourers on boats of others), fishers (boat owners who fish on their own boats), boat owners (those who own boats and do not fish), those in fish processing (drying) and selling as well as engaged in boat and net repairing (IPS, 2005b:2).
44
The exact figures are hard to estimate as most of the crafts were not registered.
boats were fully destroyed or damaged to varying degrees. Moreover, a huge proportion of fishing gear, including various types of nets (drift nets, trammel nets, cast nets etc) and outboard engines was destroyed. Facilities (ice plants, cold rooms, workshops and slipways) and equipment in ten fishing harbours out of a total of 12 were either damaged or completely destroyed (FAO, 2005).
As for the tourism sector, 50 large hotels, out of 242 registered hotels in the country, were partially damaged, while another 8 hotels were completely destroyed. 248 small hotels and 210 tourism related small enterprises were either damaged or destroyed (GOSL, 2005a; ADB et al., 2005). As a result, an estimated 27,000 people working in tourist and tourist related services (gem and jewellery shops, internet cafes, water sports shops (such as diving), taxi drivers, unregistered tourist guides, souvenir shops and mobile souvenir sellers) have lost their jobs (ADB et al., 2005). On the other hand, the number of tourists45 for the year 2005 gradually decreased after the tsunami, although the tourism was on the rise before the tsunami as a result of the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam and the Government of Sri Lanka since 200246 (Sri Lanka Tourist Board, 2006).
Overall damage to the agriculture and livestock sectors, as discussed earlier, was not as significant compared to the fishery and tourism sectors (GOSL, 2005a). However, a total of 2,308 ha of land, including 1,047 ha of paddy land, 589 ha of other field crops, 473 ha vegetable cultivation and 201 ha of fruit crops were either damaged47 or destroyed (ADB. et al., 2005). As a result, less than 15,000 farmers who engaged in farming activities, both full time and seasonal, were affected (Bell, 2005). As for the livestock sector, birds, cattle and goats mainly from Ampara, Batticaola, Trincomalee and Mulaitivu districts were the most affected (ADB. et al., 2005).
In addition to the above sectors, 15,000 people involved in self employment and the informal sector, such as food processing, coir industry, carpentry, toddy tapping, food stalls, sewing, lace making and tailoring also lost their main income source (Steele, 2005).
45
Those who come to the country for holiday, site seeing, recreation etc 46
In 2004 total number of tourist arrivals was 566,642 and it has reduced to 549,308 in 2005(Sri Lanka Tourist Board, 2006).