Slow State

Many Tsunami victims recently surveyed by a think tank said they were willing to move away from the beach but were disappointed that the government was not doing enough to bring back normalcy.











Many Tsunami victims recently surveyed by a think tank said they were willing to move away from the beach but were disappointed that the government was not doing enough to bring back normalcy. The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) conducted the survey among 600 households in tsunami-affected areas all over the island.

One of the key finding of the survey conducted by IPS together with MG Consultants was that almost 50 percent of households preferred to move in to pre built houses.

Although the government with assistance of the World Bank, ADB and Swiss Development Corporation provide grants for households outside the 100-meter buffer zone to rebuild, only a third were willing to take the credit being offered.

"May because it is not enough with the rising cost of living and wages," says Paul Steele, Institute of Policy Studies.

"The desire to have stronger houses able to withstand any future disaster," could also have contributed he says.

"While a fully damaged house that is, w