This was posted by DHRUHINI in theTravel Writing Community I belong to...
Please help - aid is not getting to the places that need it
This as an e-mail which was forwarded to me by my brother Niresh who himself was an AP correspondent in Sri Lanka. It describes how desparate the country is. Please Please help. This e-mail describes the situation in Sri Lanka.
Hello All,
This is just to let everyone know the REAL situation prevalent in the
South. I, along with another journalist and photographer went down to
Matara, Galle and other outlying towns yesterday. I just got back a
few hours ago and am heading back down there at 2pm local time today
(28th).
The Television Media (esp STATE RUN TV) is painting a picture a pretty
picture of aid being sent and everything being alright. Yesterday,
more than 36 hours after the first waves hit the south, there was
still NO aid in EITHER Galle or Matara. That means there was nothing.
Zilch.
In Galle at the Cathedral, there were close to 700 people. The Father
there said that locals had provided aid. No government stuff had come
at all. How odd. There were infants who did not have formula milk. Yet
the Government had 'mobilized' every unit under the sun. Hmmm..
Now with all the aid being sent from here, my questions is WHERE is
all that stuff going? So just be careful. My advice is not to send aid
through the State. Villagers near Kamburupitiya (inland from Matara)
said that the Police were pilfering stuff. My advice is to send aid
through Churches, Temples or other religious institutions, where
corruption will be a lot less.
Secondly, despite the lovely picture of 'humanity being helped' that
the State is painting, the south (and I believe the east, we have a
correspondent there who said it's worse off in fact) is very very
badly hit.
In Matara, there were not enough police officers to transfer bodies to
the graves. There were no officers to record the deaths. The hospitals
were barely functional. It is not fun. And the Government, for the
last 36 hours has done JACK. I'm sorry Mr. Prime Minister, but your
seat is suffering the most. What are you doing? There are (or WERE
last evening) 5000 bodies in the Hambantota town. Not moved. 36 hours
after the wave. What is the Government doing?
What about the UN? The ICRC? With all due respect to both
organizations, their presence was not seen or heard in any of the
place we went to. How long does it take a prominent international aid
organization to get down to a danger area? One and a half days? Two?
How long?
So my plea to you is, please, please help. Sri Lanka needs you. We
have never seen destruction like this. Those of you who have already
responded, thanks. To those of you who are still thinking of helping -
please do so. Just get in touch with a religious organization and send
the stuff. Do not trust the state.
If you are going down there, go in groups. People are looting very
badly. Don't travel after dark. If you want to help out here there are
areas where volunteers are wanted very badly - Mattakuliya, Ratmalana
etc. Find out and go. Again, try and work with private / aid /
religious organizations. Sorry GOSL but you really dropped the ball
this time. Don't trust them.
For those of you who were out clubbing Saturday night, here's a
thought. Those clubs could have been hit first, if the wave came
further up the coast. So please, if you want to party, go ahead. But
just put your Sri Lankaness aside.
It's time to come together. It's time to do something. There is a lot
of TALK going around. Lets see how many of us can do something.
Thanks, and God Bless you all,
Mahangu
Mahangu Weerasinghe,
Freelance Journalist,
The Sunday Times News Desk,
Colombo,
Sri Lanka.
07:59 pm December 28th, 2004
This as an e-mail which was forwarded to me by my brother Niresh who himself was an AP correspondent in Sri Lanka. It describes how desparate the country is. Please Please help. This e-mail describes the situation in Sri Lanka.
Hello All,
This is just to let everyone know the REAL situation prevalent in the
South. I, along with another journalist and photographer went down to
Matara, Galle and other outlying towns yesterday. I just got back a
few hours ago and am heading back down there at 2pm local time today
(28th).
The Television Media (esp STATE RUN TV) is painting a picture a pretty
picture of aid being sent and everything being alright. Yesterday,
more than 36 hours after the first waves hit the south, there was
still NO aid in EITHER Galle or Matara. That means there was nothing.
Zilch.
In Galle at the Cathedral, there were close to 700 people. The Father
there said that locals had provided aid. No government stuff had come
at all. How odd. There were infants who did not have formula milk. Yet
the Government had 'mobilized' every unit under the sun. Hmmm..
Now with all the aid being sent from here, my questions is WHERE is
all that stuff going? So just be careful. My advice is not to send aid
through the State. Villagers near Kamburupitiya (inland from Matara)
said that the Police were pilfering stuff. My advice is to send aid
through Churches, Temples or other religious institutions, where
corruption will be a lot less.
Secondly, despite the lovely picture of 'humanity being helped' that
the State is painting, the south (and I believe the east, we have a
correspondent there who said it's worse off in fact) is very very
badly hit.
In Matara, there were not enough police officers to transfer bodies to
the graves. There were no officers to record the deaths. The hospitals
were barely functional. It is not fun. And the Government, for the
last 36 hours has done JACK. I'm sorry Mr. Prime Minister, but your
seat is suffering the most. What are you doing? There are (or WERE
last evening) 5000 bodies in the Hambantota town. Not moved. 36 hours
after the wave. What is the Government doing?
What about the UN? The ICRC? With all due respect to both
organizations, their presence was not seen or heard in any of the
place we went to. How long does it take a prominent international aid
organization to get down to a danger area? One and a half days? Two?
How long?
So my plea to you is, please, please help. Sri Lanka needs you. We
have never seen destruction like this. Those of you who have already
responded, thanks. To those of you who are still thinking of helping -
please do so. Just get in touch with a religious organization and send
the stuff. Do not trust the state.
If you are going down there, go in groups. People are looting very
badly. Don't travel after dark. If you want to help out here there are
areas where volunteers are wanted very badly - Mattakuliya, Ratmalana
etc. Find out and go. Again, try and work with private / aid /
religious organizations. Sorry GOSL but you really dropped the ball
this time. Don't trust them.
For those of you who were out clubbing Saturday night, here's a
thought. Those clubs could have been hit first, if the wave came
further up the coast. So please, if you want to party, go ahead. But
just put your Sri Lankaness aside.
It's time to come together. It's time to do something. There is a lot
of TALK going around. Lets see how many of us can do something.
Thanks, and God Bless you all,
Mahangu
Mahangu Weerasinghe,
Freelance Journalist,
The Sunday Times News Desk,
Colombo,
Sri Lanka.
07:59 pm December 28th, 2004