Effective provision of relief to victims of Cyclone Ditwah

In the aftermath of the devastating Cyclone Ditwah which caused massive losses to a number of families in the country, the Government is now facing the enormous challenge of providing humanitarian and financial assistance to those who lost their loved ones as well as people whose properties were either destroyed or damaged severely.

The death toll from the disaster is currently reported at 639 while 203 people remain missing. According to the Disaster Management Centre, the storm had affected over 1.8 million people, with over 90,000 houses damaged or destroyed. Commissioner General of Essential Services Prabath Chandrakeerthi had estimated the total economic losses caused by the cyclone to be approximately $ 6 billion, which is equivalent to about 3.5% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Given the scale and severity of economic loss from the unfortunate event, providing relief and assistance to revitalise the livelihoods that were tormented becomes a critical task. At the Parliament, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake announced a very generous compensation package to the victims of the cyclone. As per the Government’s plan, Rs. 5 million will be paid to a completely damaged home while Rs. 2.5 million is expected to be disbursed to refurbish a damaged home.

It might be recalled in 2016, when the nation endured a similar kind of situation, funds were allocated from the National Natural Disaster and Emergency Relief Insurance Scheme, which was established as part of the 2016 Budget Proposals based on the directive of the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, as well as Budgetary provisions to provide compensation for the deaths and damages to properties.  However, the victims complained about the significant delays in receiving payments, leading to distress among victims, especially for material losses. Administrative hurdles, impaired the effectiveness of the disbursement of relief among those who suffered losses. There were also reports of unequal distribution and challenges in getting funds to all affected areas efficiently.

One of the biggest challenges with regard to providing relief during times of natural disasters in Sri Lanka is ensuring that public funds do not get siphoned off or misused by fraudulent individuals and parties with connections to influential politicians and bureaucrats. 

Two decades ago, when the island was struck by Tsunami, there were numerous instances of people with political connections claiming benefits deceitfully whereas people who genuinely needed assistance were overlooked.

Already accusations have been thrown at the Government for trying to politicise the flood relief program by exerting undue pressure on Grama Niladhari (GN) to certify the requests for relief by individuals who are politically affiliated to the NPP.  Sri Lanka United Grama Niladhari Association (SLUGNA) President Nandana Ranasinghe told the media a few days ago that JVP/NPP politicians and their supporters had been meddling with the ongoing disaster relief operations at all levels and even obstructing the GNs. He accused that powerful politicians of the Government had sent letters to the District and Divisional Secretaries, directing them to appoint ruling party members to the state-run welfare centres. The trade union of GNs had further bemoaned about state officials being allegedly directed to obtain approval from those attached to the Government’s Prajashakthi program for carrying out relief work. It is quite strange that these accusations are levelled against a political administration which gave a solemn undertaking to break free from the past and unleash a profound systemic change, represented by an independent/professional public service devoid of political intervention.

The Government is already under fire for not acting proactively to mitigate the impact from the disaster in spite of receiving early warnings about the calamity both locally and internationally. Hence, the ruling party politicians are well advised to refrain from unduly intervening with provision of relief to the victims of perhaps the worst natural catastrophe in the contemporary history of Sri Lanka.