Hope in the emerald isle

Housing projects as part of the rehabilitation efforts are well under way in Sri Lanka, but the shortage of skilled labour could prove to be a stumbling block in taking them to completion fast. The Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Relief, led by the former United States President, Bill Clinton, noted that "thanks to a quick combined response by the government, local authorities, local NGOs, private sector and the international community, the country recorded no additional deaths because of tsunami-related diseases or lack of delayed medical treatment". "The cost of labour has risen sharply," said Piyal Ekanayake, a contractor from central Sri Lanka, working in the south-western coast. Promoters of housing units in the east have a more difficult time, confronted with a "massive shortage" of skilled labour, particularly masons. "Now there is some hope," Saman Wickreme de Silva, a beneficiary of a housing scheme in southern Sri Lanka, told Frontline in early December.