Tsunami: Survivors curse crooks
04/08/2005 21:39  - (SA)  

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Colombo - Exasperated tsunami survivors in Sri Lanka have formed an association to "curse" officials and organisations siphoning off local and international aid, said a news report on Thursday.

The mass-circulation Sinhalese-language Lankadeepa daily said local architect Bathiya Rajapakse formed the association in Balapitiya after failing to get relief for the needy survivors.

Just more than 31 000 people were killed and a million left homeless in the December 26 tsunami, which triggered a huge outpouring of international sympathy and aid.

However, most of the survivors said they had yet to receive the transitional shelter promised by the authorities despite government claims that nearly 50 000 shelters had been put up within six months of the disaster.

Protests and demonstrations along the southern coastal belt were common, with survivors demanding better delivery of aid.

Cursing opponents was more of a cultural practice than a religious ritual in Sri Lanka, where the majority Sinhalese community followed Buddhism, while minority Tamils practised Hinduism.

Political parties often decided to "cursing" by dashing coconuts in the hope that their opponents will also smash to smithereens like a coconut dashed against stone.

- AFP

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