SRI LANKA: TOURISTS RETURN TO WINDSURFING RESORT AND HOTELIERS BYPASS BUREAUCRACY TO REBUILD SIX MONTHS AFTER TSUNAMI
Record ID:
648476
SRI LANKA: TOURISTS RETURN TO WINDSURFING RESORT AND HOTELIERS BYPASS BUREAUCRACY TO REBUILD SIX MONTHS AFTER TSUNAMI
- Title: SRI LANKA: TOURISTS RETURN TO WINDSURFING RESORT AND HOTELIERS BYPASS BUREAUCRACY TO REBUILD SIX MONTHS AFTER TSUNAMI
- Date: 22nd June 2005
- Summary: (ASIA) ARGUM BAY, SRI LANKA (FILE - DECEMBER 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF WOMAN SEATED ON BEACH STARING AT WAVES IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TSUNAMI 0.09 2. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CYCLING ALONG FLOODED ROAD 0.16 3. SLV VAN DRIVING ALONG FLOODED ROAD 0.23 (ASIA) ARGUM BAY, SRI LANKA (RECENT) (REUTERS) 4. VARIOUS OF MAN WINDSURFING 0.34 5. SLV WOMAN PHOTOGRAPHING WINDSURFER 0.39 6. WIDE OF MORE OF WINDSURFER 0.47 7. VARIOUS OF FOREIGNERS AND LOCALS WATCHING ON BEACH 1.15 8. WIDE OF DESERTED VILLAGE 1.18 9. CLOSE OF RESTAURANT SIGN 1.23 10. WIDE OF PRESIDENT OF THE ARUGAM- BAY HOTELIERS ASSOCIATION MOHAMMED RAHEEM 1.38 11. CLOSE OF MOBILE PHONE 1.33 12. SCU SOUNDBITE (Sinhala) PRESIDENT OF THE ARUGAM- BAY HOTELIERS ASSOCIATION MOHAMMED RAHEEM SAYING: "The tourists who come here come for the surf. People call them hippies because they are poor and they look for cheap accommodation." 1.43 13. VARIOUS OF TOURISTS SWIMMING IN SEA 1.53 14. WIDE OF FISHERMEN ON THE BEACH WITH BOATS 1.57 15. SLV BOAT GOING TO OUT TO SEA 2.04 16. WIDE OF FISHING BOATS ON BEACH 2.08 17. VARIOUS OF FISHERMEN PREPARING NETS 2.21 18. SCU SOUNDBITE (Sinhala) MOHHAMED RAHEEM SAYING: "In this village there are fishermen, those who do tourism and some are farmers. The job I know to do is tourism. I don't know fishing or cleaning fish. So, how can I go for a different job. That's why I rebuild my business quickly," 2.45 19. VARIOUS OF DESTROYED HOUSES AND DAMAGED FISHING BOAT ON BEACH 2.51 20. CLOSE OF RUBBLE/ PILE OF BRICKS 2.57 21. SLV DESTROYED/ DAMAGED HOUSE 3.01 22. WIDE OF AJITHA DE COSTA BUSINESSMAN SEATED 3.07 23. SCU SOUNDBITE (English) AJITHA DE COSTA BUSINESSMAN SAYING: "Well, I think Arugam Bay is probably facing the same problem that the rest of the country is facing. There are loads of donors and goodwill, and I know Arugam Bay has donors for at least 800 or 900 houses -- we are one of them for a hundred houses -- they just can't start the rebuilding. Because although the sites have been identified, the land has not been cleared for building. That's a major problem." 3.36 24. SLV DAMAGED BUILDING 3.41 25. VARIOUS OF PILES OF RUBBLE/ BRICKS 3.57 27. SOUNDBITE (English) AJITHA DE COSTA SAYING: "Well is the authorities who are in charge. If you take Arugam Bay, the so-called plan which was prepared by the government has been out since 25th April. We are now in June. Rebuilding should have started months ago. People are still in tents. That is really very very sad." 4.19 28. WIDE OF REBUILT HOTEL 4.24 29. CLOSE OF WOMAN TOURIST 4.29 29. SLV TOURISTS SEATED AT TABLE 4.36 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 7th July 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ARGUM BAY, EASTERN SRI LANKA
- Country: Sri Lanka
- Reuters ID: LVA9MRR77TELFY3P9LOV59HRA7A5
- Story Text: Tourists flock to eastern Sri Lanka's windsurfing
paradise as hoteliers bypass bureaucratic channels to speed
up reconstruction.
Six months ago, eastern Sri Lanka's Argum bay was
paralysed by the tsunami waves which left thousands
homeless and destroyed the bustling tourist industry.
The sea off Arugam Bay is one of the world's top wind
surfing spots. Tourist arrivals plummeted after the Asian
tsunami, but while most of Sri Lanka's other tourist
resorts are deserted, Arugam Bay is recovering fast.
"The tourists who come here come for the surf. People
call them hippies because they are poor and they look for
cheap accommodation," says Mohamed Raheem, the President of
the Arugam Bay Hoteliers Association.
Raheem who owns the Arugam Bay Hilton says the
advantage of such tourists is that they always return for
the surf, whether there is a war or disaster.
While most of Sri Lanka strictly adheres to a new
coastal tsunami buffer zone, in Arugam Bay hotels are being
rebuilt at high speed, ignoring government warnings that
they will be bulldozed.
"In this village there are fishermen, those who do
tourism and some are farmers. The job I know to do is
tourism. I don't know fishing or cleaning fish. So, how can
I go for a different job. That why I rebuild my business
quickly," says Raheem.
While the hotel owners have taken the law into their
own hands, hundreds of people who lost their houses are
still waiting for new ones as government bureaucracy moves
at a snail's pace, frustrating the efforts of donors and
individuals trying to help the tsunami survivors.
"Well, I think Arugam Bay is probably facing the same
problem that the rest of the country is facing. There are
loads of donors and goodwill, and I know Arugam Bay has
donors for at least 800 or 900 houses -- we are one of them
for a hundred houses -- they just can's start the
rebuilding. Because although the sites have been
identified, the land has not been cleared for building.
That's a major problem," says Ajitha De Costa, a
colombo-based businessman with links to Arugam Bay.
De Costa, who helped the government draw up a plan to
rebuild Arugam Bay with an eye not only to providing houses
but also improving the tourism infrastructure, is in no
doubt as to who is at fault.
"Well it is the authorities who are in charge. If you
take Arugam Bay, the so-called plan which was prepared by
the government has been out since 25th April. We are now in
June. Rebuilding should have started months ago. People are
still in tents. That is really very very sad."
Recovery in Sri Lanka, like many other tsunami affected
nations has been crippled by complex bureaucratic channels
which are delaying reconstruction and recovery efforts.
Dozens of aid organisations and NGO's have set up shop
all over the country since the tsunami and a lot of them
cannot operate and effectively donate funds until they have
been legally approved by the government.
The Sri Lankan government was reduced to a minority in
parliament recently after its main ally quit the ruling
coalition in protest against plans to share tsunami aid
with Tamil Tiger rebels.
Without its slim working majority, the government will
be unable to pass legislation and implement key reforms on
taxation, privatization and energy unless it can cobble
together support from other opposition parties, which
analysts say is highly unlikely.
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