HOUSING RECONSTRUCTION & RESETTLEMENT AFTER A NATURAL DISASTER: 2004 INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI - SRI LANKA

Abstract

"Only after Disaster can we be resurrected" Tyler Durden

We see the devastation on television, grateful that it is not our home that it is not our loved one that it is not our community. We wipe a tear or two have a talk about the tragedy and our spirits are heightened when we watch the victims turns to the cameras, seemingly with indomitable spirits declare "we will rebuild our homes and our community, we will overcome this tragedy and be better than before".

With time, this latest disaster slips out of our minds, but for those individuals, numbering in hundreds of thousands amid rubble, sorting through piles of debris which they once called home reliving the fond memories of the past, realizing that going home will require more than just spirit. In short it is not so easy to go home again.

The common misconception is that, people who have lost everything will accept anything, a “roof" over their head is sufficient. It is solely this ignorant misconception that makes most resettlement schemes an utter failure.

Reconstruction ought to consider questions such as, What was home? What was community? What was it like before the disaster and how can that be restored? Or whether it can be restored? And how can initiatives be taken to make that a reality. These questions can only be answered by adopting a holistic recovery process which takes a comprehensive look to the setting of the past, the concerns of the present, and the possibilities of the future.