UN says tsunami victims not properly consulted for reconstruction

Seven months after the tsunami, the UN says tsunami victims in Sri Lanka have not been properly consulted in tsunami reconstruction.







Seven months after the tsunami, the UN says tsunami victims in Sri Lanka have not been properly consulted in tsunami reconstruction. "Since the tsunami last year, a greater part of post-tsunami relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation (RRR) work in Sri Lanka has been carried-out with minimal consultations with the affected communities,” said a statement from the United Nation’s Development Programme (UNDP) on Monday.

The UNDP statement quotes a tsunami victim, Achala Lakmali of Beruwela, saying “No one knows our needs because no one asked us what we wanted. They just brought the same things over and over again.

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Lakmali says failure to listen to affected people “has led to a disconnect between assistance and needs on the ground.”

“We got a lot of cooking utensils, but no one has given us assistance to build a house because we live with relatives. We pay a rent and have been asked to leave but we have no place to go,” Achala said.

However, the government’s main reconstruction a