Involuntary Displacement and Resettlement — Policy and ... - CEPA

7 Access to InfrastructureDamage to fishery infrastructure, roads, common buildings, schools and thelack of clean drinking water were significant issues following the tsunami.Most infrastructure facilities in urban areas have been restored. However,some fisher households from remote areas in Batticaloa and Ampara stillsuffer from lack of access to electricity, drinking water and poor access totransport facilities. Focus group discussions in different locations of theEastern Province reveal that poor access to markets, lack of storage facilities,damaged roads and lack of boat repair facilities to be difficulties faced byfisher households.7.1 Current access to infrastructure by resettled householdscompared to pre-tsunami statusTable 7.1 shows the percentages of resettled households who have accessto basic infrastructure facilities. Findings show that the numbers ofhouseholds with access to these facilities are now less than they were beforethe tsunami. There is a room for improvement in almost every aspect ofinfrastructure to improve the wellbeing of the resettled households.Table 7.1 Access to the facilities in the villagePre-tsunami% of householdsCurrentPre- school 81 79Primary School 91 75Secondary School 90 71Hospital/ Healthcare centre 59 58Bus/Train station 42 37Local fish market 74 70Fuel station 25 208 Socio-cultural IssuesFocus group discussions reveal that local community relationships andcohesiveness were disrupted following the tsunami due to poor targeting ofaid and voluntary or involuntary resettlement. Some households who hadexperienced death and disability of family members preferred to resettle inplaces far from the sea but the majority did not want to. Some resettlement102