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By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter
A tsunami caused by an earthquake took away tens of thousands of lives in Sri Lanka, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, in 2004. But it didn't end in complete catastrophe.
``Many lives were lost, but now we have a system to deal with disaster,'' Mahinda Samarasinghe, the first minister of disaster management and human rights said in an interview with The Korea Times during his visit to Korea last week.
On Christmas eve in 2004, the giant wave first engulfed the coast of Indonesia, and then hit Sri Lanka one and a half hour later. Sri Lanka was not alerted and thousands of uninformed vacationers on beaches and coastal residents were killed. Lack of communication was blamed for the massive death toll.
Samarasinghe said that Sri Lanka now has opened communication links with international agencies, being able to notified within 15 minutes of any recurrence. ``Now we have linkage with the international community.''
The extent of recovery in Sri Lanka is also noticeable. ``By and large, there's a complete recovery,'' he said.
The fishery industry, one of the most damaged industries for an island country, has now been 95 percent restored. Pretty much all the infrastructure has also been repaired or reconstructed. Nearly 100,000 houses were built for people without homes.
Asked about purpose of his visit, the minister without hesitance said he came to thank Korea for its assistance in the aftermath of tsunami.
Recognizing Korea's immediate and voluntary response, Samarasinghe said, ``We want to convey our message of thanks to the people of Korea for their generous support.''
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Korea sent emergency fund of $600,000 on Dec. 27, 2004, three days after the tsunami, and shipped out emergency aid items on Dec. 31.
Despite nonstop and successful recovery efforts, for the developing country, it still has a long way ahead, Samarasinghe said. And he called for continuous support from the international community for its ``100 percent recovery plus.''
Korea has sent humanitarian support continuously from the beginning. As soon as the Sri Lankan government set out recovery projects, Korea extended hands to help restore tsunami-hit remnants, repairing bridges, building hospitals and other facilities.
Beginning this year, Korea initiated building projects valued at $2 million, constructing disaster management systems and training local authorities in three locations in Sri Lanka.
Noting that decentralizing the new disaster management system was the greatest challenge facing Sri Lanka, the minister expressed special appreciation for Korea's unique efforts, calling for increasing contributions for that particular field.
During a meeting with KOICA President Park Dae-won, the minister requested the expansion of the capital building project. Information on whether the Korean government accepted his proposal to increase the size of the fund and duration of the project is not available.
He said during his visit, he witnessed Korea's advanced technology and communications in disaster management. ``Korea has had a lot of experience in this area. You have put in place good systems for early warning as well as prevention and mitigation of disaster. And we think we can learn from your experience.''
To this end, he said he looked forward to signing a memorandum of understanding in that area with the Korean National Emergency Management Agency.
He, in particular, seemed excited to adopt the Korean emergency-alert system, 24-hour monitoring centers, and communication mechanism among police and the army in responding to disasters.
During the tsunami in Sri Lanka alone, nearly 38,000 were killed.
He remembered the day of trauma four years ago well.
``I was in my district, which was one of the affected areas by tsunami,'' the former opposition member of the Parliament said in retrospect. ``I was on my way and got a phone call from a friend,'' who screamed that the sea was coming.
``If it had happened 30 minutes earlier, I might have not been alive today,'' the minister said.
The South Asian nation is a tropical nation, often hit by cyclones. Damages by rainfall, floods and landslides are primary natural disasters.
skim@koreatimes.co.kr
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