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Charles ‘terribly upset’ by Sri Lanka’s tsunami devastation

BATTICALOA: Britain’s Prince Charles sought to console Sri Lankan tsunami survivors Monday during a brief tour of the island’s devastated east coast, expressing dismay over the extent of the damage and loss of lives in this former British colony.

After arriving by helicopter in the Batticaloa region, the prince met survivors and Red Cross volunteers. He told them he was “terribly upset” by the devastation from the Dec. 26 tsunami, which killed more than 31,000 people on the island and left more 1 million homeless.

Charles asked Tamil fisherman Vellupillai Sellaiya if he had received any help in recovering his business. Watched by Sri Lankan officials, Sellaiya told him not yet, but that the government had promised to help.

The government has been accused of being slow in delivering aid to the northeast, home to most of Sri Lanka’s 3.2 million minority ethnic Tamils. The government has denied the charge.

The prince also visited a damaged Hindu temple, where he spoke with a priest. He was given a garland and had a round, orange mark painted on his forehead - part of Hindu tradition to bless temple visitors.

He met with 10 Red Cross volunteers who were clearing rubble from destroyed homes on a sandbank between a beach and lagoon. “I feel awful,” Britain’s Press Association quoted him as saying. “All I have done is interrupt their very hard work. You’ve got a lot more to do when I’m gone.”

He told one volunteer who lost her home: “I do hope you can rebuild your house, perhaps somewhere else.”

The prince arrived at Colombo’s international airport after dawn Monday, and about 30 minutes later boarded a Sri Lankan air force helicopter for Batticaloa, where he landed at an abandoned soccer stadium. There was heavy military presence in the area.

“It’s good to see Prince Charles making the extra effort to go to the more remote areas,” said David Crawford, head of the British aid group Oxfam in Sri Lanka. “Anything that shows the people here that they haven’t been forgotten is very welcome.”

Parts of Batticaloa are controlled by Tamil Tiger rebels, but Prince Charles had no plans to meet with the guerrillas, banned as a terrorist organization in Britain since 2001. Britain plays no direct role in Sri Lanka’s peace process, but supports mediation efforts by Norway. Last week, Sri Lanka’s government and the Tigers marked the three years since they signed a Norway-brokered cease-fire that halted fighting and restored a degree of normalcy to the island. ap

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