Tsunami: One Year Later » Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Reporting in Sri Lanka

  • Free Media Movement (FMM)
    The FMM website features a comprehensive list of media organizations in Sri Lanka, as well and the advocacy groups and unions who represent them. They also feature a directory of sources, including leaders of political parties and prominent activists. The group advocates for greater access to information for local as well as foreign journalists.
  • Sri Lanka Envornmental Journalists Forum (SLEFJ)
    SLEFJ spoke out early on behalf of journalists and media outlets that were devastated in the tsunami. They also sent research teams out and, in February, released a report about journalists' situation in Sri Lanka. The organization is led by environmental journalist Dharman Wickremaratne and can be contacted at ++94 (11) 2873131, 2537852.

Research and Resources

  • Task Force for Rebuilding the Nation (TAFREN)
    Sunday Times editor and AsiaMedia contributor Feizal Samath says TAFREN is difficult to navigate. TAFREN is "the best source and probably the worst," he says in email. The agency has a wealth of information but contacting its extremely busy members is a challenge.
    TAFREN takes a limited role in actual tsunami relief work; instead, it coordinates the tasks of other agencies. The official TAFREN website describes the body as an agency under "a Presidential directive...with a clear mandate to facilitate, enable, coordinate and monitor the post-tsunami reconstruction efforts."
    Almost one year after the disaster, TAFREN is now facing questions about how far reconstruction has come and where money has been spent. The TAFREN website explains, "While some criticism has been levelled [sic] at the pace of reconstruction...it is also true that the scope of what needed to be done is unprecedented in terms of scale and complexity."
    The agency also launched the Development Assistance Database (DAD) in September. DAD is a web-based application that provides key information on tsunami. At the time, then Chairman Mano Tittawella urged all agencies to maintain openness in their reconstruction activities.
    AsiaMedia contributor Arthur Rhodes interviewed Tittawella in August for the non-profit organization, the Reclaim Initiative. Titawella commented on the pressing issue of infrastructure; he said that reliable transportation systems and electricity are basic needs to stir economic growth. A World Bank study of Sri Lanka's investment climate says that the country's stringent labor laws, shaky political climate and the possibility of civil war keep foreign investment that could help achieve these goals at bay.
  • Geolanka
    Organized, but dated by about six months, Geolanka is divided by the categories for relatively easy browsing. The sister site of RecoverLanka.net, this source provides topical information and updates on the evolving situation on the ground, as well as information on community-based organizations. It is a portal for documents, both official or academic reports and personal accounts. The "Background" section explains the science of tsunamis and "Revival" contains articles and links to other news sources.
    The "Maps & Data" section contains detailed, sometimes interactive maps, allow readers to navigate damaged areas on a very local level. The site is fringed to with links to blogs that cover political issues in Sri Lanka. A forum without an active narrator, Geolanka is an essential resource and for journalists and humanitarians.
  • Medical Needs of Tsunami Disaster Refugee Camps (PDF)
    A pair of Korean medical teams dispatched to the southernmost Sri Lankan provinces simultaneously conducted studies to create a realistic report of medical needs after the tsunami disaster. The teams concluded, as published in the June 2005 issue of Family Medicine, that although adequate supplies of potable water kept incidences of waterborne diseases low, acute respiratory and chronic illnesses remained common, as well as skin trauma and infections. The teams agreed that though aid workers are crucial in assisting displaced persons, the destruction of existing medical facilities and loss of local medical professionals needs to be taken into more consideration.