The Civil Collective for Malaiyaha Reconstruction organisation said that the estates are being largely neglected in the post-Ditwah restoration programmes, and that some of the estates are not being restored with basic facilities.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (25), Convenor of the Collective, Selvaraja Rajasegar said that even in the camps, the Malaiyaha community is mistreated, and that in some estates in Badulla, camps are also doubling as schools, in turn requiring camp dwellers to move out for the duration of the school hours, while some estates, including Gavarakale, have not been restored with electricity after Ditwah destroyed infrastructure. 

“In some areas in Badulla, people are living in the same houses that were destroyed by the landslides; there is nowhere for them to go,” he said. He further added that data about the broken roads have not been taken by any of the authorities yet.

The Plantation and Community Infrastructure Ministry was unavailable for comment. 

The issues of the Malaiyaha community remain an unaddressed issue for a long while, and yesterday, the community submitted a 15-point set of demands on their rights to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Some of the key demands include financial aid of up to Rs. five million for destroyed homes, equal treatment in relief distribution, and the provision of formal land ownership documents. They are also calling for transitional shelters that meet humanitarian standards, and the redevelopment of estate settlements into sustainable villages with proper infrastructure.