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Aid efforts in Sri Lanka hampered by
obstruction from Sri Lanka's airforce
Caroline Gammell in Colombo
in Scotsman 8 January 2005
"The Sri Lankan airforce has
confiscated two planes donated by the Italian government
which can land on sea or ground and were brought in to
deliver aid to the most remote areas.Each aircraft can carry
six tonnes and were welcomed by relief workers last week.
But now they are being held by the air force and are lying
idle at the domestic airport in Ratmallan, Colombo.... “They
say they want to check that the aid is not going to any
Tamil organisation.The stuff (to be loaded on to the planes)
was actually from the UN, it was completely legitimate and
this is the air force’s way of keeping control.”
Aid efforts in Sri Lanka are being hampered by obstruction from
the island’s airforce, inappropriate supplies and a lack of
co-ordination on the ground, a British aid worker said today.
Two weeks after the country was torn apart by the tsunami, there was
frustration that bureaucracy was blocking desperately needed
supplies.
The Sri Lankan airforce has confiscated two planes donated by the
Italian government which can land on sea or ground and were brought
in to deliver aid to the most remote areas.Each aircraft can carry
six tonnes and were welcomed by relief workers last week. But now
they are being held by the air force and are lying idle at the
domestic airport in Ratmallan, Colombo.
Chris Weeks, director of Crisis Resource Network, a Dubai-based
organisation helping to co-ordinate supplies being flown into the
country, said attempts to access the aircraft had proved fruitless.
“There is no sign that the Sri Lankan air force are doing
anything.They have been pretty obstructive and I am not very pleased
with them.”
Mr Weeks said the planes had been impounded before making a single
flight and their isolation was politically motivated by tensions
between the government and the separatist Tamil Tigers.
The ceasefire, which was agreed three years ago after 20 years of
war, was on shaky ground when the treacherous waves devastated the
island. “The Sri Lankan air force are very powerful because of the
war and they have a lot of control,” he said.
“They say they want to check that the aid is not going to any Tamil
organisation.The stuff (to be loaded on to the planes) was actually
from the UN, it was completely legitimate and this is the air
force’s way of keeping control.”
Mr Weeks said he was meeting the Sri Lankan government on a daily
basis but to little effect.
“This doesn’t do any good, they make excuses, the air force make
excuses and it is pretty depressing.”
Canadian and American helicopters are flying aid to more isolated
parts of the island, but can only carry two tonnes – a third of the
load of the seaplanes.
“Psychologically it is quite good but it is not really effective,”
said Mr Weeks.
US Black Hawks are taking aid to Ampara in the south east but they
do not have people on the ground and are only guessing as to what
aid is needed, he added.
“They are taking supplies that they are pretty sure are needed, but
they don’t know what is really needed.
“They should be staff on the ground but there doesn’t seem to be
that co-ordination at the end point.”
Mr Weeks said fewer but larger aircraft were now arriving in
Colombo, but some were still bringing in the wrong type of supplies.
“We received 93 tonnes of blankets yesterday, they just do not need
these heavy blankets.”
He said essential equipment such as tents, tarpaulins, kitchen sets
and generators were coming through but he added that the government
were trying to take every item through customs before releasing the
aid.
This would seriously slow down the delivery of supplies and was
being ignored by the Crisis Resource Network.
“We are going to keep going until we are forcibly told not to,” he
said.
“The Americans are not going to put up with it.
“They will co-operate for a bit but then they will get the top brass
in.”
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