Review of impact of post-tsunami reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure facilities

On 26 December 2004, an earthquake in the West Coast of Northern
Sumatra set off a series of other earthquakes lasting for several hours
which resulted in a Tsunami in the Indian Ocean. This led to widespread
disaster, particularly in Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives, Indonesia and
Thailand, with damage also in Malaysia, Bangladesh, Somalia, the
Seychelles and Kenya. Sri Lanka, the ‘pearl of the Indian Ocean’, blessed
with abundant natural resources, faced one of the worst natural disasters
recorded in recent history. The Tsunami struck a relatively thin but long
coastal area stretching over 1,000 kilometers - two thirds of the country's
coastline. The destructive ocean waves killed more than 35,000 people,
displaced nearly 2,500,000 people and destroyed thousands of
houses. The overall damage to Sri Lanka is estimated at $1 billion, with a
large proportion of losses concentrated in housing, tourism, fisheries and
transportation. Development Partners range from private individuals both
inside and outside Sri Lanka, to governments and NGOs. Coastal
infrastructure, namely roads, railways, power, telecommunications, water
supply and fishing ports were also significantly affected. Reactions ranged
from immediate assistance to communities and local governments in
restarting to function as speedily as possible, to short and long-term
assistance in supporting communities to rebuild their infrastructure and
housing so that they might again have normal lives and eventually recover
from the trauma of the tsunami.

As the infrastructure consists primarily of transportation, electric and
telecommunications, and water and sewerage facilities that provide
services to the public through a network of roads, rails, ports, airports, pipes
and lines, the effectiveness of infrastructure systems impact on all
economic activities. In this context, this paper aims to analyse the impact of
the Tsunami on infrastructure facilities in Sri Lanka and how the postTsunami
reconstruction process has affected the development of the same.
A comprehensive literature review was carried out regarding the Tsunami
and its impact on the nation. The infrastructure-related reconstruction and
rehabilitation data were obtained from the RADA (Reconstruction And
Development Agency, formerly TAFREN) through unstructured interviews
conducted among personnel involved in the reconstruction and
rehabilitation of infrastructure facilities. Results confirm that after almost
one and a half years, the Tsunami rehabilitation process is slow as
compared to its start.