Where are the houses being built for tsunami survivors?
Some houses are built on their original sites. Often the existing foundation is cleared and inspected for stability. In some cases, the existing foundation has to be removed. This is done with crude tools and manual labor. Some of the homes have to be relocated because the government no longer allows houses to be built closer than 100 meters from the ocean. Manual labor is the methods used for digging a foundation in Sri Lanka: 1. The house plan is roped off with sturdy branches and twine 2. The digging and clearing is done with a “mamoty” (a large hoe), a pick axe, straight crowbars, and square shovels. This is very strenuous work. Sri Lanka has few excavators, and they are difficult to rent.
