WHERE DOES THE DEBRIS GO
Uses of Debris
Without proper plans and technology to recycle the debris, the villagers take recycling into their own hands.
"Not all debris is dumped. Some villagers sell the debris for landfill", said Ms. S. V. Chihradeus, 40, an engineer for the Batticaloa Municipal Council, "In Uppukkaraichi, landowners pay 400rupees(S$6. 60) for about 3 cubic metres of debris. Many low-lying lands around the lagoon need to be filled so new houses can be built".
Besides landfill, the debris is also put to other uses.
"At Navalady, we don't sell the debris. We need it to build roads," said Mr. S. Sivasothy, 25, a tractor driver who collects about 700kg of debris from Navalady each day.
"We need the debris here for road development. My children face difficulties traveling on the bumpy road to school. We are waiting for the NGOs to put gravel on top of the stones and bricks", said Mr. V. Jeminitharan, 35, one about 200 debris clearance workers participating in French NGO Acted's cash-for-work programme.
Living with debris scattered around their village and lagoon, the villagers have learnt to find uses for the debris. They use the broken branches for firewood. Some fishermen have also adopted alternative fishing methods with metal debris.
"We don't use nets in the lagoon now. They break," said Mr. S. Sisupalan, 29, one of the divers from Navalady.
"We catch jellyfish floating on the surface of the lagoon's waters, and put them in that cage", said Sisupalan, pointing to a rusted rectangular metal cage about half a metre wide, and 30 centimetres high.
"The 'Ottie' will swim into the basket (for the jellyfish), and will be unable to escape", said Mr. T. Varakunam, 35, a fisherman, referring to a species of fish found in the lagoon. "It is tasty and always in season", he added.
Debris Cleanup
However, in Navalady, the debris clearance, which began in April, has been plagued with problems.
Three days after the tsunami hit, the government organized a debris clearance project in Batticaloa. It only lasted for a month. Hindered by a lack of resources, the Municipal Council handed the work over to Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) such as Actionfarm, the United Nations Development Programme and Sarvodaya.
"The NGOs did not do the clearance work properly and their contract was only for limited months". said a villager, Mrs. K. Ranjithakumary, who clears the area under Acted's cash-for-work programme.
"When the NGO cannot continue with the funding, a new NGO would start. My contract with Acted expires next month. I doubt we can finish all the work in 1 month.", said Ranjithakumary in September.
Mr. S. Niththy, 26, a supervisor for Acted's debris clearance work, said the programmes may go on until February 2006.
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