Residents of a coastal town in the tsunami ravaged eastern Batticaloa District continued to block a main highway for the second day to protest the government for the lack of enough help to rebuild their homes, police said Wednesday.     

Over 1,000 tsunami victims of Maruthamunai in the eastern Batticaloa district took to the street, blocking the main highway leading to the town of Kalmunai on Tuesday to protest the government for the lack of help to rebuild their homes.

They demanded a concrete pledge from the top local civil servant, the government agent on a definite time frame to rebuild the houses flattened by the Dec. 26 tsunamis.

The protest forced the busy market street to a standstill.

The protesters said they had been provided accommodation in temporary shelters built by volunteers but no government action plan had been implemented in the area.

They held placards and even cooked meals on the road, eye witnesses said.

In the neighboring Trincomalee district, the tsunami victims of Muttur also staged a protest walk, demanding expedited action to provide tsunami relief.

The victims have expressed general unhappiness over the lack of a properly coordinated efforts despite unprecedented pledges of international support.

The government said US$500 million were needed for the reconstruction effort for 2005.

According to a source from the Finance Ministry, only a 10 percent of the pledges had been materialized so far.
 
(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2005)