Batticaloa, february 2006

To a casual visitor, if such can be imagined, the town of Batticaloa on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka seems remarkably unscathed by its recent history. Children walk to school in their immaculately white shirts, clusters of cyclists clog the bridges, prawn fishermen drift in their canoes on the lagoon that encircles the town. There are, it is true, army checkpoints on the road, and the anarchic local traffic frequently parts to let through a white 4 × 4, be-flagged avatar of the international humanitarian community, its occupants in their air-conditioned seats staring out at the humanity they are here to serve. Each jeep sports a flag to identify the INGO they adhere to. Some, like those of the Norwegian-administered International Monitoring Mission, are here because this is supposed to be a post-conflict zone. Rather more are in the business of post-Tsunami aid and reconstruction.

The Tsunami in December 2004 hit this coastline hard. The town itself was protected by its lagoons, but whole villages along the beach close by were flattened and, fifteen months on, the rebuilding of permanent homes has hardly begun. The stalled rebuilding process is a complex story. A national agreement between the government and the LTTE for joint mechanisms for the distribution of aid, painstakingly negotiated under the watchful eye of the big donors, was kicked into touch by the courts on constitutional grounds before it ever really took hold.