ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN SRI LANKA, 7-9 JANUARY

The Secretary-General and his wife Nane arrived from Jakarta to Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Friday night, 7 January, and began his visit Saturday morning with a meeting with representatives of a dozen United Nations agencies, plus the Asian Development Bank, to review their coordinated efforts to deliver relief to the victims of the 26 December tsunami.

The giant wave hit the island nation from the west and then wrapped around it, affecting populations along most of the coast line.

After addressing the UN staff at the United Nations compound, where he expressed his condolences to those who lost loved ones and praised their common efforts towards emergency relief and rebuilding, he travelled by helicopter south along the west coast of the country to the district of Hambantota in the south-east, which is a fishing centre.

With a population of half a million people, Hambantota suffered some 4,500 deaths.  Over 27,000 were displaced and nearly 4,000 houses were destroyed.  The devastation was focused on a one-kilometre stretch of the coast, with the wave hitting on a Sunday when local people gather on the beach for a traditional market.

The Secretary-General was joined by the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is from that region.  Together they toured the one-kilometre stretch of road along the beach, as people were cleaning up and the search for bodies continued.

They then went to the Cabeer Jumma Mosque, which housed up to a hundred families.  Nearly 1,000 people had been buried in a mass grave behind the structure.  Those taking shelter there were of different faiths, and the Secretary-General, Mrs. Annan, the Prime Minister and James Wolfensohn of the World Bank were joined inside by leaders of three different religions.  Hundreds had turned out to meet with them, and sat in respectful silence.  One by one, community leaders stood to explain their needs and to express their thanks for what has already been given.  They cheered at the appearance of Arjuna Ranatunga, the national cricket star who is now Deputy Minister of Tourism.  The Secretary-General listened, but did not speak.  Afterwards, he walked through the upper floor of the facility, greeting teenagers and small children.

The party then went to a municipal building.  The grim statistics were given in a slide presentation -- 4,000 homes damaged, 10,700 fishermen’s livelihoods destroyed, 1,100 businesses gone, 79,000 people affected, 2,454 dead and 616 missing.  The cost to rebuild:  $750 million.

One of the leaders of a women’s cooperative, when asked by the Secretary-General about the effectiveness of United Nations aid, said that UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were active from day one -- the afternoon of 26 December.

From Hambantota, the Secretary-General and his party (minus Mr. Wolfensohn, who left on a separate programme) flew two hours to the north-east part of the country, where the population is mixed -- roughly one third each Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim.

He observed much greater damage to coastal areas en route, before landing at Trincomalee.  The number of deaths in Trincomalee was a relatively modest 452, with 150 still missing, yet the damage was great.  Over 5,000 houses were fully or partly destroyed, displacing some 35,000 people, according to government figures.  The hospital was hit hard, killing some 50 patients, as were seven schools.

The Secretary-General and Nane first visited the AlankernySchool, where residents of a mostly Tamil coastal village destroyed by the tsunami had taken refuge.  He discussed their traumatic experience with them and their plans to rebuild.  But one fisherman said he was too afraid to return to the coast.

They then visited KiniyaCentralCollege, where up to 3,600 people, all Muslims, from the destroyed coastal parts of Kiniya town were being cared for.  In the mosque, the Secretary-General addressed community leaders and those heading the aid effort.

“The children have been through a lot”, he said at one point.  “They are shocked and traumatized.  We should help them go through this period and let children become children again.”  He then toured the complex, talking to the displaced.

Both schools were receiving food rations from the World Food Programme (WFP) and non-food relief items from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The party then flew back to Colombo, where President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga hosted a dinner honouring the Secretary-General and Mr. Wolfensohn.

The Secretary-General began his last day in Sri Lanka with a meeting with the leader of the Tamil National Alliance, R. Sampanthan, followed by one with the leader of the Opposition, Ranil Wicremasinghe.

He then met with about 30 representatives of national and international NGOs engaged in the aid effort.

From these three meetings came ideas for better coordination of relief assistance, fresh approaches to rebuilding and hope that the common effort to deal with the results of the catastrophe could restore momentum to the peace process between the Government and Tamil rebels in the north.

He then had a meeting with President Kumaratunga, in which he raised some of the ideas that had come up in his earlier meetings.  The President described her Government’s efforts to coordinate its dealing with the crisis, including by setting up a Centre for National Operations, which the Secretary-General was scheduled to visit next.  That centre included an NGO desk to coordinate with private aid organizations, both national and international.  She also said that the Government had decreed that the rebuilding of houses would have to be done 300 metres from the coastline, and that it would make land available for that purpose.

The Secretary-General and the President then joined the Task Force of Political Parties, made up of a cross-section of political leaders of the country and which was the vehicle by which the Government planned to clean up and rebuild.  It would conclude a recovery plan in less than a week, she said.

Several party leaders then spoke, thanking the Secretary-General for the UN’s help and also pledging to work with the ruling party in a unified national effort to deal with the disaster.

The Secretary-General then did a walk through of the Centre for National Operations before giving a press conference there.

In his opening remarks to the press, he said, “As is plain for any visitor to see, this is a tragedy that has affected all Sri Lankans.  It is a disaster that transcends the divisions that have long racked your country.”  Ordinary Sri Lankans had come together on an extraordinary scale to deal with this emergency, he said, adding, “I fervently hope their political leaders will do the same and join hands.”

Asked if he regretted not being able to visit the rebel-held north, he commented that he had been in the country less than 48 hours and yet had “done a lot”.  Another journalist asked him to comment on the fact that there was disappointment he didn’t make it there.  He said that he hoped to return and visit all parts of the country and “to celebrate peace”.

And could his visit help the peace process, a correspondent asked?  “As difficult as the situation is”, he replied, “I believe there are also opportunities.”  He added that working together on recovery and reconstruction could instil confidence that could accelerate the peace process.

The Secretary-General then flew to the Maldives, the third and last of the affected countries he would visit.