Vadamaradchy East coastal road badly damaged

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 December 2004, 14:58 GMT]
Heavy machinery including bulldozers are required to clear long stretches of Vadamaradchy East coastal road before vehicular traffic can use the road, said Sea Tiger Commander Mangales who is coordinating the Sea Tigers rescue operations in Vadamaradchy east. Two battalions of Sea Tigers are deployed in rescue and relief effort in Vadamaradchy and Mullaitivu, sources close to the relief operations said.

Currently only two or three small size bulldozers are being used in clearing operations along the Vadamaradchy east. The clearing team is calling for addtional machinery to speed up the process.

The relief workers said that the relief supplies from UNICEF, UNHCR, World Vision, WFP and CARE have started to reach sectors in Vadamaradchy east allowing the field workers to look after the needs of the affected people without difficulties, sources close to the relief operation said.

ZOA foundation and UNICEF are building the urgently needed toilet facilities, according to field workers in Vadamaradchy east.

Six additional bodies were discovered in Vadamaradchy East during Friday afternoon operations.

A task force meeting was helod at the Puthukkadu offices at 5pm Friday to assess the progress of the relief operations and participatants generally expressed satisfaction that the co-ordinating mechanism is working well.

Relief staff is also trying to relocated displaced from crowded camps to camps that have more space. 200 such families from relocated from Pallai Madhya Maha Vidiyalayam, according to sources.

Severely decomposed bodies recovered are being burnt on the spot after being photographed. Rescue workers equipped with Walkie-talkies alert photographers and after photos are taken the decomposed bodies are burnt.

Major injuries in Vadamaradchy east areas were found caused by wire fences.