Only one fifth of the homes damaged by the tsunami have been rebuilt in Sri Lanka and the death toll is still unclear, government officials admitted just days before the first anniversary of the tragedy, even as an international watchdog urged for a critical assessment of the reconstruction process.
At a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the devastating tidal wave, the Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapakse, oversaw two minutes'' silence and placed a floral wreath at the foot of a cresting wave-shaped memorial in the southern town of Peraliya for those who died in the tsunami.
President Rajapakse paid homage to the victims of the tsunami disaster and pledged to introduce a ''new dynamism'' in reconstruction work which he admitted was moving slowly.
Ironically, Rajapakse was elected last month on a hardline Sinhala platform which included the scrapping of a landmark aid-sharing deal between his predecessor, Chandrika Kumaratunga and the Tamil Tigers.
The aid deal had been backed by international aid donors who have pledged billions of dollars.
Admitting that aid distribution had been less than satisfactory, President Rajapakse this week launched a new initiative called ''Jaya Lanka'', which seeks to bring all reconstruction-related institutions under one umbrella.
However, Sri Lanka’s Auditor General has, in a preliminary report, criticised widespread corruptions and inefficiencies which has seen large sums of money trickle away without meaningful results.
This week Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) urged for a critical assessment of the reconstruction process and identification of constraints and vulnerabilities of the recovery process in Sri Lanka.
“The Government has yet to show a clear commitment to ensure transparent and accountable culture. Political agendas dominated the post tsunami period rather than rebuilding the nation,” TISL said.
Amongst TISL’s criticisms were: “the improper identification of beneficiaries, tainted with political and management malpractices; lack of access to information by the public; timely utilization of foreign aid for the intended purposes; lack of coordination for the maximum use of aid money; lack of participation by all stakeholders, throughout the reconstruction process.”
Finance Secretary P. B. Jayasundera said about 20,000 homes out of the 98,525 that were destroyed or partially damaged had been rebuilt through state or private help.
"There have been several constraints. The local capacity constraint. The construction industry capacity... and the lack of labour and materials," Jayasundera said at the launch of a report card on reconstruction.
However, he said he expected the reconstruction efforts to accelerate next year as most of the challenges were being overcome.
According to initial official estimates, the December 26 tsunami disaster killed some 31,000 people and displaced one million in Sri Lanka.
However, Jayasundera admitted Saturday they were yet to reconcile the death tolls issued by different arms of the government with figures ranging from 17,500 to 41,000 dead.
"We should be able to reconcile these figures and we will get back with the numbers later," he told reporters. The government has made similar promises in the past but has yet to come up with an authoritative toll.
The loss of infrastructure was estimated at 900 million dollars and the country''s total reconstruction and rehabilitation needs were placed at 2.2 billion dollars.
The government has said it received 3.2 billion dollars in aid pledges by international donors.
The joint report card by the government and its key donors noted that co-ordination between state and non-governmental agencies was itself a huge challenge.
A private think tank had earlier asked the government to reign in the private charities which often worked at cross purposes and competed with each other for media attention and pushed wages artificially high.
"The sheer number of actors and the size of the reconstruction needs have made co-ordination a huge challenge, especially between state and non-state actors," the report said.
"With the tsunami reconstruction now entering its second and arguably more difficult year, it is possible to learn lessons from the past year''s achievements and shortcomings," the report said.
Officials told AFP more than 350 private charities have been operating in Sri Lanka since the tsunami.
TISL lamented the “general lack of interest/cooperation amongst most organizations and/or individuals, in issues of transparency and accountability in relation to their work.”
At a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the devastating tidal wave, the Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapakse, oversaw two minutes'' silence and placed a floral wreath at the foot of a cresting wave-shaped memorial in the southern town of Peraliya for those who died in the tsunami.
President Rajapakse paid homage to the victims of the tsunami disaster and pledged to introduce a ''new dynamism'' in reconstruction work which he admitted was moving slowly.
Ironically, Rajapakse was elected last month on a hardline Sinhala platform which included the scrapping of a landmark aid-sharing deal between his predecessor, Chandrika Kumaratunga and the Tamil Tigers.
The aid deal had been backed by international aid donors who have pledged billions of dollars.
Admitting that aid distribution had been less than satisfactory, President Rajapakse this week launched a new initiative called ''Jaya Lanka'', which seeks to bring all reconstruction-related institutions under one umbrella.
However, Sri Lanka’s Auditor General has, in a preliminary report, criticised widespread corruptions and inefficiencies which has seen large sums of money trickle away without meaningful results.
This week Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) urged for a critical assessment of the reconstruction process and identification of constraints and vulnerabilities of the recovery process in Sri Lanka.
“The Government has yet to show a clear commitment to ensure transparent and accountable culture. Political agendas dominated the post tsunami period rather than rebuilding the nation,” TISL said.
Amongst TISL’s criticisms were: “the improper identification of beneficiaries, tainted with political and management malpractices; lack of access to information by the public; timely utilization of foreign aid for the intended purposes; lack of coordination for the maximum use of aid money; lack of participation by all stakeholders, throughout the reconstruction process.”
Finance Secretary P. B. Jayasundera said about 20,000 homes out of the 98,525 that were destroyed or partially damaged had been rebuilt through state or private help.
"There have been several constraints. The local capacity constraint. The construction industry capacity... and the lack of labour and materials," Jayasundera said at the launch of a report card on reconstruction.
However, he said he expected the reconstruction efforts to accelerate next year as most of the challenges were being overcome.
According to initial official estimates, the December 26 tsunami disaster killed some 31,000 people and displaced one million in Sri Lanka.
However, Jayasundera admitted Saturday they were yet to reconcile the death tolls issued by different arms of the government with figures ranging from 17,500 to 41,000 dead.
"We should be able to reconcile these figures and we will get back with the numbers later," he told reporters. The government has made similar promises in the past but has yet to come up with an authoritative toll.
The loss of infrastructure was estimated at 900 million dollars and the country''s total reconstruction and rehabilitation needs were placed at 2.2 billion dollars.
The government has said it received 3.2 billion dollars in aid pledges by international donors.
The joint report card by the government and its key donors noted that co-ordination between state and non-governmental agencies was itself a huge challenge.
A private think tank had earlier asked the government to reign in the private charities which often worked at cross purposes and competed with each other for media attention and pushed wages artificially high.
"The sheer number of actors and the size of the reconstruction needs have made co-ordination a huge challenge, especially between state and non-state actors," the report said.
"With the tsunami reconstruction now entering its second and arguably more difficult year, it is possible to learn lessons from the past year''s achievements and shortcomings," the report said.
Officials told AFP more than 350 private charities have been operating in Sri Lanka since the tsunami.
TISL lamented the “general lack of interest/cooperation amongst most organizations and/or individuals, in issues of transparency and accountability in relation to their work.”