VZCZCXYZ0011
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLM #0623/01 1691045
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181045Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0124
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 6991
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 3886
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 3125
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 8753
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 1741
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 3598
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1244
INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI//J3/J332/J52//
RHMFIUU/CDRUSARPAC FT SHAFTER HI//APCW/APOP//

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000623 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/INSB, DRL/NESCA AND PRM 
STATE ALSO PASS TO USAID 
AID/W FOR ANE/SCA 
AID/W FOR DCHA/FFP FOR JDWORKEN, JBORNS 
AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA FOR ACONVERY, RTHAYER AND RKERR 
BANGKOK FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA WBERGER 
KATHMANDU FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA MROGERS AND POL SBERRY 
USMISSION GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
USUN FOR ECOSOC DMERCADO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID PREF PGOV PHUM CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: "COMPETENT AUTHORITY" STILL IN CHARGE 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: Although the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) has 
indicated that responsibility for camp management in Manik Farms and 
in the transit sites in and around Vavuniya District was being 
transferred from Competent Authority (CA) Major General Chandrasiri 
to Vavuniya Government Authority (GA) Mrs. P. Charles, the CA is in 
fact still in control and is personally involved in the day to day 
management of Manik Farms.  The CA holds a weekly interagency 
meeting to receive updates on the status of agencies' activities, as 
well as to give the CA a forum in which he can inform the agencies 
of decisions impacting on their operations.  The CA announced that 
he had authorized the clearing of two addition zones (zones 7 and 8) 
as part of the overall plan to decongest Manik Farms.  The CA also 
holds periodic "Zonal Meetings" that let him see first hand what is 
going on in the camps and provides agencies an opportunity to raise 
camp management issues.   The CA approved the opening of additional 
stores in Manik Farms to bring in fish, meat, and a variety of other 
foods.  He had previously approved bakeries, banks, and mobile food 
stores.  The willingness of the GSL to allow businesses to operate 
in the camps could reflect a desire to bring some "normalcy" to 
Manik Farms.  This could be the beginning of a process of 
transitioning the camps to more permanent "welfare" settlements. 
The CA stated that access is not a problem and that agencies working 
at Manik Farms should inform him of any access issues.  The CA has 
reportedly stated that he plans to complete work on the camps in two 
months.  End summary. 
 
CAMP MANAGEMENT 
--------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) As previously reported by USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign 
Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA), the GSL had indicated that 
responsibility for camp management in Manik Farms and in the transit 
sites in and around Vavuniya was being transferred from the CA to 
the Vavuniya GA.  Although Sri Lankan military presence in the camps 
has been reduced significantly, the military is still present to a 
limited extent as part of ongoing security screening operations.  In 
addition, military personnel can also be found in the camps clearing 
new sites and erecting tents.  By and large, however, the military 
is now only located on the perimeter of Manik Farms controlling 
access into and out of the camps.  Although the military might be 
out of the camps, the CA is still in complete control and is, in 
fact, personally involved in the day to day management of Manik 
Farms. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  The USAID/OFDA regional advisor attended the last weekly 
CA interagency meeting that Major General Chandrasiri held with the 
heads of all U.N. agencies, government agencies (Health Department, 
Education Department, National  Water Supply and Drainage Board, and 
the Rural Development Authority), as well as with representatives 
from all local and international non-governmental organizations 
(NGOs).  The purpose of this weekly coordination meeting is to 
update the CA on the status of agencies' activities in Manik Farms, 
as well as to give the CA a forum in which he can inform the various 
agencies of decisions that impact on their operations.  During this 
meeting, for example, the CA informed the Office of the U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that the Sri Lankan army had 
cleared 90 acres in Zone 5 and that six blocks were now ready.  He 
instructed UNHCR and the other INGOs that they had five days to 
establish the necessary infrastructure - tents, latrines, water 
tanks, bathing/washing sites, communal kitchens, and public health 
centers - to support the new camp.  The CA indicated that he was 
moving in 2,000 families (8,000 individuals) from Zone 2 to Zone 5 
in five days and that the site should be ready by then.  The CA said 
that he had carried out his job and now the agencies involved had to 
do theirs.  The CA also announced for the first time that the Sri 
Lankan army had begun clearing a site for a sixth zone.  He informed 
UNHCR and the GA that they had five days to survey the site and that 
they should plan on putting up tents in two to three weeks. 
 
DECONGESTING CAMPS 
------------------ 
¶4.  (SBU) The CA also announced at this meeting that he had 
authorized the clearing of two additional zones (Zones 7 and 8) as 
part of the overall plan to decongest Manik Farms.  This would 
increase Manik Farms from five to nine zones.  The CA stated that an 
estimated 20,000 internally displaced person (IDP) families would be 
moved out of the existing zones and into the new zones to reduce 
overcrowding.  The CA stated that his preference is one tent per 
family.  Providing shelter for the 20,000 IDP families will require 
the construction of an equal number of shelters/tents.  The CA 
directed UNHCR to provide them.  The new zones will also require the 
same infrastructure, including water, latrines, medical support, 
learning centers, among others, as the other five zones which will 
likely stretch available resources.  UNHCR has reported that the 
agency will need nearly 11,500 latrines to reduce the ration from 
1:50 to 1:20 and 1,200 bathing spaces to meet needs.   The CA also 
noted that an additional 20,000 100-liter garbage bins (55 gallon 
drums cut in half) are needed for the new camp sites. 
 
CAMP STORES OPEN 
----------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) USAID/OFDA has previously reported that distribution of 
complementary food rations to IDPs, including canned fish, chick 
peas, tofu, curry, and chili powder would cease in approximately one 
month due to lack of continued donor funding.  Funding was provided 
for the initial three-month emergency period.  The GA has expressed 
concerns about the sudden cutoff of complementary food and has urged 
the U.N. Food Cluster to continue providing complementary food until 
the GSL could come up with a solution.  The CA, however, has decided 
to open food stores within the camp site.  The CA announced at the 
meeting that fish from Mannar District would be brought in the next 
day and that meat would also be made available.  Even one of Sri 
Lanka's leading grocery chains, Keels, is prepared to begin 
operations in the sites.  A Keels representative told the CA at the 
meeting that Keels was prepared to open up food stalls, operate 
mobile stores, and provide eight different ready-to-eat meals for 
sale to the IDPs.  The CA requested the Keels representative to 
provide employees' names and their National ID card numbers and 
informed him that they could begin operations the following day. 
These businesses would join bakeries, banks (Ceylon Bank), and 
mobile food stores operated by the Multipurpose Cooperative 
Societies as commercial businesses approved to operate in the camps. 
 It is difficult to say at this juncture how many IDPs have access 
to cash to buy goods, but NGOs report that many IDPs have relatives 
living abroad who can send remittances through the Bank of Ceylon. 
The bank also serves as a pawn broker giving loans in exchange for 
gold jewelry.  INGOs also reported that many of the IDPs are on 
pensions or are government workers that are receiving payments from 
the GSL.  In addition, there are cash-for-work programs operating in 
the camps that are adding to the available cash.  The CA also 
encourages cash-for-work activities.  In addition, he instructed the 
Health Department to hire IDPs with prior experience in insecticide 
spraying and provide them with a salary. 
 
TRANSITION TO SEMI-PERMANENT SHELTERS 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The willingness on the part of the GSL to allow businesses 
to operate in the camp site before even basic emergency 
infrastructure is set up could reflect the GSL's desire to bring 
some "normalcy" to Manik Farms.  This could be the beginning of a 
process of transitioning the camps from emergency camps to more 
permanent "welfare villages."  The CA has stated in the past that he 
supports constructing semi-permanent shelter and mentioned in the CA 
interagency meeting that he would prefer that the 20,000 emergency 
shelter/tents he has asked for be semi-permanent structures. 
However, several shelter INGO's are concerned that the CA will 
insist that the 6,757 emergency shelters now in Zone 3, which are in 
need of maintenance and repair, should be upgraded to semi-permanent 
structures as part of the maintenance and repair process.  This 
could be done by reinforcing the structures and by replacing the 
plastic sheeting and/or tarpaulins used on the side and roofs with a 
stronger, longer lasting material.  UNHCR, the U.N. Shelter Cluster, 
and donors, however, have stated that they will not support such a 
move and that they will continue to only provide temporary emergency 
shelters to meet existing requirements.  It remains to be seen 
whether the CA will ask UNHCR to upgrade the existing emergency 
shelters or whether the GSL will find other sources to provide the 
funding to do so.  Even if UNHCR does complete the necessary repairs 
on the emergency shelters in Zone 3, they will only last another 
three months.  Thus, the GSL decision to transition from emergency 
to semi-permanent shelters would just be postponed until 
September-the start of the northeast monsoon season. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) At a June 12 meeting with U.N. and local and international 
NGO representatives, Minister of Resettlement and Disaster Relief 
Services Rishad Bathiudeen asked that more permanent shelters be 
provided due to the upcoming rainy season.  In addition, at a June 
15 meeting with the Charge, Senior Presidential Advisor Basil 
Rajapaksa said that some people might put the wrong interpretation 
on the GSL desire to construct more permanent shelter for the IDPs. 
The GSL's intention is to provide in-camp vocational training to 
IDPs on shelter construction and allow IDPs take their upgraded 
shelter with them when they return to places of origin, he added. 
The June 16 edition of the Daily Mirror, however, had a front page 
graphic depicting the design of a "welfare village for IDPs" in 
Manik Farms that encompasses Zones 0-5. 
 
ZONAL MEETINGS 
-------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  Although the CA holds a weekly interagency meeting with 
the U.N., GA, and local and international NGOs to discuss camp 
management issues, he has also started holding meetings in each of 
the camp's four zones attended by the respective Zone Commander, 
U.N. agencies, local and international NGOs, and IDP representatives 
from each block.  This is an on-the-ground, personal inspection by 
the CA of conditions in each of the zones.  If the CA finds 
problems, he directs the appropriate agency to correct the 
deficiency.  For example, last weekend he found latrines that were 
overflowing in one of the zones and instructed the U.N. Children's 
Fund (UNICEF) to repair them.  Less than one week after this 
inspection of the zones, the CA held a follow-up, day long meeting 
in Manik Farms that started at Zone 0 and ended at Zone 4.  Every 
agency that works in Manik Farms was represented. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) These meetings not only allow the CA see first hand what 
is going on in the camps but also provide agencies an opportunity to 
raise camp management issues with him.  Although the CA is a 
micro-manager with a "dictatorial" style, these meetings also 
provide give and take between the CA and the agencies.  It appears 
from the outcome of these meetings that the CA is receptive to 
suggestions from agencies to change policies and/or to implement new 
ones that they recommend in order to improve humanitarian 
operations.  For example, a week ago the CA announced that all water 
bowsers had to be parked in the Manik Farms over night rather than 
in the respective agencies' parking area where they can be 
maintained.  When the agencies pointed out to the CA that his policy 
hindered water distribution rather than improved it, the CA reversed 
the policy.  When agencies asked the CA to set up diesel fueling 
points in the camps to avoid driving long distances to refuel water 
bowsers, the CA agreed and opened fuel points in the camps.  When 
agencies complained about the lack of after-hours medical support in 
Manik Farms, the CA had two air conditioned vans brought to the 
camps so doctors had a place to stay at night.  Also, in a 
discussion about allowing smoking in Manik Farms, the CA reported at 
the meeting that people were smuggling cigarettes into the camp and 
that it must stop.  He stated, however, that IDPs had a right to 
smoke and announced with a bit of flair that he had called the 
"agent" in Vavuniya to bring a load of cigarettes to Manik Farms the 
next day.  At the end of the meeting, however, a Health Department 
representative expressed his disagreement with the CA's decision to 
allow smoking in Manik Farms since IDPs were living in confined 
quarters and passive smoke was dangerous to children.  The CA looked 
 
at the audience and asked if anyone had a position on this.  No one 
raised a hand. Then the CA announced that smoking was banned in 
Manik Farms. 
 
ACCESS 
------ 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The CA stated at the interagency meeting that access was 
not a problem and that any agency that encounters problems entering 
Manik Farms to carry out their work should inform him.  Access to 
the CA, however, means merely transporting materials or relief 
supplies into the camp.  It does not apply to agencies that want to 
drive into the camp with empty vehicles to monitor activities or 
supervise staff.  INGOs that the USAID/OFDA regional advisor spoke 
with reported that they have found a way around this rule by loading 
their vehicles with relief supplies so it looks as if they are going 
to distribute relief commodities in Manik Farms.  This tactic seems 
to be working and has enabled most agencies to gain access to the 
zones to monitor their projects.  Several agencies, however, 
continue to report that they have to negotiate access every time 
they want to enter the camps, even if they are carrying relief 
supplies or other materials.  The USAID/OFDA regional advisor 
reported that he was able to enter Zone 4 with the International 
Organization for Migration (IOM) to visit IOM-supported public 
health centers without any delays at the gate.  It seems that 
enforcement depends on who is manning the gate at the time. 
 
CAMP COMPLETION 
--------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Several heads of agencies have informed the USAID/OFDA 
regional advisor that the CA has stated that he plans to complete 
work on the camps in two months.  This is probably a realistic goal 
given the scope of the work already completed in Manik Farms.  The 
CA, for his part, seems to be adept at incorporating U.N. agencies 
and international humanitarian actors and their resources into his 
plan for achieving this objective.  If at the end of two months camp 
infrastructures are in place, the camps are decongested, stores are 
operating, and the transition from emergency camps to the 
semi-permanent "welfare villages" has begun, then the CA will have 
accomplished his mission. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) COMMENT: Completing the camps is one thing.  Whether they 
will meet the UN's Sphere standards - or whether Sphere compliance 
is even an issue for the GSL - is another.  Although improvements 
are being made on a weekly basis to infrastructure and services in 
the camps, there is a long way to go to bring them up to 
international humanitarian standards, leading to pessimism among 
INGOs working in Manik Farms that Sphere Standards will ever be met. 
 For example, it is questionable whether the GSL can complete the 
water distribution network to each block in each zone or if the 
11,000 plus latrines that need to be constructed will be built and 
old ones closed within the next two months.  If the GSL declares 
that the humanitarian emergency is over when the camps are 
completed, then the international community may lose whatever 
leverage it now has to induce the GSL to bring the camps up to 
international standards. 
 
MOORE