CHA Head threatens Court action

Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) Head,Jeevan Thiyagarajah had informed an audience of the Resettlement Minister, officials, Head of a UN agency and INGO's involved in erecting shelters for 277,000 IDPs on Friday that they must collectively act in the best interest of the IDPs now, or be compelled to do so through Court action, which he formally declared he would pursue if internal reconciliation and action was not forthcoming.

Describing the current situation as immoral, Thiyagarajah said he had been disappointed on one particular count where women had to share tents with strangers and generally on the obstacles to Sri Lanka agencies partnering in providing toilets speedily in line with public health laws of the Government.

The Minister too had sought consensus. The Ministry had last week adopted and distributed the best features of Humanitarian Standards, drawn from global instruments such as sphere for provision of shelter, non food relief items (NFRI) and water and sanitation. It had also adopted two specifications from UNHCR for shelter and NFRI while Government agency experts had provided the technical standards for sanitation facilities. Read more ...