Relief effort in chaos

Despite Sri Lankan Government claims that plenty of food, medicine and water were getting through to the worst affected areas, lorry loads of aid are stranded miles away from thousands of needy people.

Meanwhile, aircraft packed with relief materials from abroad were stuck at the international airport because of a lack of transport facilities and other organisational problems.

As the country prepared to observe a memorial day for the more than 20,000 people it has lost, complaints mounted that the emergency operation was in chaos.

Volunteers sent to deliver aid to the shattered town of Galle on the southern tip of the island yesterday said 75 trucks were stuck on the road into the area.

And to the north, Tamil Tiger leaders claimed they were not being given any aid from the Sri Lankan Government for the part of the country they control.

The Sri Lankan military, however, claimed the Tigers were turning back lorries which were bound for an area where many thousands were missing. It was claimed the move was aimed at securing international rather than Sri Lankan help.

The situation of apparent chaos was typified by an operation set up in the shadow of Colombo's opulent Plaza Hotel. Pamela Podoro, a Canadian living in Sri Lanka, and a group of volunteers sprung into action after disaster struck. Their attempts to send lorry loads of medical supplies and other vital materials were swiftly backed by the Sri Lankan Red Cross (SLRC). Volunteer numbers swelled as tourists from a neighbouring hotel saw the Red Cross' appeals for help and signed up.

However, with outreach teams sent across the country, the organisations clashed over strategy and the SLRC removed its support. Volunteers were ordered to remove the Red Cross bibs.

While the Podoro operation continues without SLRC support, it and other groups are having extreme difficulty getting supplies directly into the hands of those who need it most.

There are continued reports of looting in the south and east of the country. Teams dispatched to the Galle area earlier this week reported that as many as 75 lorry loads of aid were backed up outside the town.

Yesterday, aid was reaching the people of Galle, but refugees could still be seen drinking water from broken pipes by the roadside. The father of Galle cathedral earlier said that all aid reaching the town was coming from local sources rather than the Government.

The problem of distribution is equally severe in the north and east. Volunteers who were tourists in the inland resort of Kandy made their way to the town of Trincomalee to meet aid packages.

However, getting the supplies to stricken communities was more difficult. First came conflicting information about which villages were most in need. And access roads to many villages could not be used by the large lorries and the bus the volunteers were travelling in.

Roy Owens, a British ex-patriate who signed up as a driver, said, "We embarked on a six-hour journey to Trincomalee but when we got there, there was little idea about where it should go.

"We went to the local hospital but they didn't need our medical supplies. Then we went to the local Sri Lankan Red Cross office and they sent us to meet more volunteers. They changed their minds a few times about where the aid should go. When we did set out to find the suggested village, the road was impassable."

Meanwhile, the threat of disease mounts. An acrid stench of death lingers over parts of the south. Journalist Najeeb ur Rahman said in the southern town of Matara there was not enough police to transfer bodies to graves.

- INDEPENDENT