FOCUS ON GOVERNANCE, ECONOMY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN TIMES OF DISASTER

Cyclone Ditwah is described as one of the worst tragedies that occurred in Sri Lanka in recent times.

- By Kamanthi Wickramasinghe

It is believed that the impact of this disaster may be felt for years to come, similarly to the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. While authorities continue to assess the full scale of fatalities and destruction caused by the cyclone, recovery, rebuilding and rehabilitation efforts would require immense efforts, funding and coordination. In this backdrop, interest groups including civil society organisations have started questioning the government on the promulgation of emergency regulations, state of the economy and issues of transparency and accountability in overall governance structures

Myriad of concerns

Immediately after the cyclone, the government declared a state of emergency followed by the appointment of new actors such as the Commissioner Generals for essential services and civil security. “One of the questions we have raised is that the regulations itself are rather vague,” said Bhavani Fonseka, human rights lawyer and activist during a recent discussion organised by the Centre for Policy Alternatives on the theme 'Governance, Human Rights and Related Issues in Times of a disaster.'

She highlighted the fact that the Disaster Management Act was brought in soon after the tsunami.

There are sections within the Public Security Ordinance that could have been used and were used by the President. “In terms of response and reforms there are vulnerable groups such as women, youth, children and disabled people that require quite a lot of attention. Intersectionality needs to be looked at. One factor highlighted during this disaster is climate issues. One of the new dimensions is that the economic crisis created new layers of insecurity and vulnerability. There are questions being raised about the composition of the Rebuilding Sri Lanka fund and how it would execute context specific responses,” she added.