Press Room > Oxfam Ireland Press Release
January 2nd 2005
Sri Lanka Disaster Update
Casualties and damages: All but 2 of Sri Lanka’s 15 costal districts districts were submerged by the
tidal wave. The most affected districts are Trincomalee, Batticiloa,
Killinochi, Mullaitivu and Jaffna in the north, and Galle, Matara,
Hambantota and Manner in the south.
As of 31 December UN sources report: 28,508 people dead, 5,023 people are still missing, 804,599 people are displaced, 80,000 houses have been destroyed, 1.5 million people have been displaced.
Oxfam response
Immediately: Using Oxfam’s existing four field offices in Sri Lanka, coordinated from the
country office in Colombo, the immediate response commenced as soon as the
tsunami subsided on Sunday 26 December. It consisted of:
* Physical rescue and medical assistance;
* access to pure drinking water;
* Provision of plastic sheets for roofing, and sleeping mats to hundreds of families;
* distribution of cooked food for hundreds of people on the nights of
26th and 27th. (These were for relatives waiting at makeshift morgues for
the release of bodies of their relatives killed in the flash flooding.);
* Supply of water tanks to an isolated Muslim community south of
Trincomalee that had been cut off since the tidal wave;
* Provision of water distribution points in Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu,
Trincomalee and Batticaloa.
* Immediate detailed assessments of relief requirements in northern and eastern districts of Mullaitivu, Killinochi, Trincomalee and Batticiloa
and in the southern districts of Ampara, Matara and Hambantota.
Continuing: Distribution of essential clothing items to up to 50,000 target households;
* Distribution of plastic sheeting to address the housing needs of up to 15,000 families;
* Establishment of 60 further water distribution points in isolated areas of the north and east of the country where there is a severe shortage
of potable water;
* Provision of water treatment services for all emergency water supplies;
* Re-establishment of damaged or destroyed water sources and construction of sufficient new water sources;
* Distribution of basic hygiene and household items to up to 50,000 target households (household packs include buckets, soap, sanitary towels,
candles and matches);
* Distribution of dry food rations to about 15,000 in the inaccessible Vakharai area of Batticaloa district;
* Distribution of food to 15,000 households for three months, either as free-food or food-for-work;
* Distribution of cash to 10,000 households for three months either as cash grants or cash-for-work;
* Livelihood asset re-stocking (eg: fisheries, small livestock etc).
Through Oxfam Ireland the Irish public has made an immediate contribution of €150,000 towards this emergency response. The situation will continue to
be closely monitored with a view to providing additional support in the very near future.
Clodagh Heagney, Oxfam Ireland’s humanitarian manager said, “The sheer scale and geographical scope of the disaster make the humanitarian aid efforts
exceedingly difficult. Despite this, Oxfam Ireland is managing to provide essential assistance in the form of shelter, clean water and sanitation to
15,000 families in Sri Lanka. The larger Oxfam International family is
responding to needs in all countries across the region affected by the
tsunami, and we will continue to provide additional assistance as the
situation becomes clearer”.
For Editors
* Oxfam has been working in Sri Lanka since 1986.
* We have field offices in Trincomalee, Batticiloa, Vavuniya and Killinochi, and a country management office in Colombo, the capital;
* We have worked extensively in the conflict-affected areas of the North and East, as well as the poverty stricken southern and central highland areas.
Oxfam Ireland's Asia Earthquake Floods appeal : you can donate online here or lo call 1890 60 60 65 (ROI) & 0845 303 0337 (NI) or visit any Oxfam Ireland Shop.
Further information from Oxfam International website here