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Clinton Visits Kinniya

from TamilNet, November 29, 2005

United Nations Special Envoy, President Bill Clinton, Tuesday visited Kinniya division, which had registered highest number of deaths and displacement due to tsunami disaster in the Trincomalee district last year. During his two hour-stay in Kinniya President Clinton visited tsunami destroyed areas and consoled the victims, sources said.

Mr.Clinton speaks to a group of tsunami affected Kinniya fishermen and farmers. Minister Ms Ferial Ashraff and Mr.Leelananda , Government Agent are also seen

Clinton arrived at 2.25 p.m. by a special helicopter with Ms Ferial Ashraff, a cabinet minister in the UPFA government. Mr. Mohamed Najeeb Abdul Majeed, a non-cabinet minister and also one of the four parliamentarians of the Trincomalee district, Mr.S.Rangarajah, Chief Secretary of the North East Provincial Council (NEPC), Mr.K.G.Leelananda, Trincomalee Government Agent, Mr.M.Ashraff, Kinniya Divisional Secretary and representatives of UN agencies received President Clinton at the Kinniya playground where the helicopter landed, sources said.

Thereafter President Clinton was taken to a house in Annal Nagar, a Grama Sevaka division in the area along the coastline where he talked to the members of the affected family.

He then went further inside the village and met a group of Tamil and Muslim fishermen and farmers. He was briefed about their plight after tsunami disaster, sources said.

Moulavi is explaining to Mr.Clinton how he and two other children escaped death in tsunami

Mr. Clinton then walked to the ruins of the tsunami destroyed Al-Matheena Mosque. Forty-one Muslim children who were attending Arabic classes in the mosque on December 26 last year were consumed by tsunami waves. Mr. Clinton consoled the two children and the teacher who escaped death in tsunami.

President Clinton observed one-minute silence at the site in the name of children and others died in the disaster, sources said.

Finally he visited the tsunami-destroyed Kinniya hospital where Dr.T.Thavakodirajah, Deputy Provincial Director of Health Services, Dr.Sameem, Medical Officer of Health (MOH) and Dr.Nazeer, District Medical Officer received Mr. Clinton and briefed him on the forty patients and others who were found dead in and around the hospital on December 26 after tsunami, sources said.

Mr. Clinton then addressed a press conference held in the premises of the destroyed Kinniya hospital.

Mr. Clinton said he will be visiting Sri Lanka again in the near future and will be submitting a report on tsunami relief regarding Sri Lanka to the Secretary General of United Nations.

Mr. Clinton said he met with Sri Lanka's President and that Mr Rajapakse had told him that he is giving peace process top priority and that he is committed to taking the peace process forward.

Mr. Clinton left Kinniya by air around 5 p.m. to Colombo.

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Recovery efforts should not exacerbate existing inequities - Clinton

UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery and former US President, Bill Clinton, who is currently in Sri Lanka on the eve of tsunami anniversary to assess rebuilding and recovery progress, said in Colombo Tuesday that post-tsunami recovery effort should not exacerbate existing inequities. "Building better roads and schools is essential, but it is not enough. We need to ensure that all people in Sri Lanka are on their way to a better and safer development path than they were prior to this tragedy," Mr. Clinton said during his third visit to Sri Lanka.

A statement from the UN office in Colombo said that Mr. Clinton had met with key members of the government, the UN and civil society to assess the status of the recovery effort and how best to tackle ongoing challenges, including the quick restoration of livelihoods and the equitable distribution of aid.

Following is the UN statement in full:

As the one-year anniversary of the tsunami approaches, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, returned to Sri Lanka today to review progress achieved since the tsunami struck the country's coast last December. He met with key members of the government, the UN and civil society to assess the status of the recovery effort and how best to tackle ongoing challenges, including the quick restoration of livelihoods and the equitable distribution of aid. This visit was President Clinton's second to the country in his capacity as UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery.

An estimated 30,000 people died in Sri Lanka as a result of last December's tsunami and an additional 516,000 were displaced. An estimated 58,000 transitional shelters have been built to house hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the catastrophic event.

Speaking from Colombo, President Clinton remarked on the status of the rebuilding effort in the region: "Almost one year after the devastating tsunami struck the coast of Sri Lanka, real progress has been achieved: Ninety percent of children are back in school, epidemics have been prevented and transitional shelter has been provided to almost all internally displaced people." President Clinton also addressed the challenges facing the region in the ongoing effort to build back better, noting that "There is still more to be done and efforts must focus on maintaining the shelters as the monsoon season approaches, providing jobs to the hundreds of thousands of people who lost their source of livelihood as a result of the tsunami, and the construction of permanent homes," he added.

UN Special Envoy President Bill Clinton in Trincomalle

During his visit to Sri Lanka President Clinton traveled to the northeast area of the country. In Colombo he also met with civil society members and listened to their concerns about equity in the distribution of aid among tsunami survivors in different parts of the country, and between those displaced by the tsunami and the 800,000 people who have been displaced by conflict.

"If we are to truly build back better, we need to ensure that the recovery effort does not exacerbate existing inequities," President Clinton said. "Building better roads and schools is essential, but it is not enough. We need to ensure that all people in Sri Lanka are on their way to a better and safer development path than they were prior to this tragedy," he added.

Referring to newly elected President Mahinda Rajapakse, President Clinton noted that he hoped that efforts to promote peace and reconciliation would prevail. "Any recovery progress achieved this year will be quickly reversed if Sri Lanka returns to civil conflict," President Clinton said.

President Clinton's trip to Sri Lanka is part of his visit to the tsunami affected region nearly one year after the tsunami struck 12 countries killing over 230,000 people and displacing an estimated 1.5 million. As part of his trip, President Clinton will travel from Sri Lanka to Aceh, Indonesia on November 30th where he will meet with government, UN, civil society and private sector representatives as well as with members of affected communities in Indonesia.