Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The interview of the residents recently (August 2013) revealed that the amount
of the marine resources for the fi shery has decreased greatly since the tsunami.
It has decreased so much that it has not been profi table to become fi shermen any-
more. Many people then quit their fi shermen career and turned to fi nd new career
paths such as construction workers or self-employed. In the Nua village, during the
monsoon season, nearly 60 % of the people do not live in the donated house. Instead,
they move away to get new jobs such as agricultural related employees. They return
to their home after the monsoon season was over. The situation in the Hat Sai Khao
village is not much different. As most residents do not have other careers besides
fi shery, when doing fi shery was not profi table, most of them quit their job, sold their
boats and houses they received from the donation and moved away. Currently, ten
out of fi fty families do not live in the donated houses anymore. According to the
witness in the village, among 50 boats that were donated by the ARC, only 10 boats
are still in working condition. To relieve the unemployment problems in these
villages, several organizations sent the volunteers to the villages to train the resi-
dents to start alternative careers occasionally. Unfortunately, due to the lack of the
continuation of the activities and due to the fact that the new trained careers did not
fi t the job market for the locals, the result was disappointed. The residents have not
been able to switch to the new careers and many of them are still unemployed.
The social situation in the affected communities has changed since the tsunami
as well. We were told by the residents in the villages recently (August 2013) that in
the past people living in the villages tended to rely on each other and had good
relationship among the families in the villages. Unfortunately, the relationship
among the residents has deteriorated to be very socially distant and more self orien-
tated. Most of the younger generation moved away to fi nd the new jobs and left the
elderly at home unattended.
6.9.2
Challenges
Although the affected communities in this study received relatively quick assistances
from various organizations, there are still several issues that can be improved.
Due to limited funding and short restoration time frame, most of the houses in
the affected area that were reconstructed with supports from the government were
typical standard two-stories government residence styles. The styles of these houses
were the same at both the Nua and the Hat Sai Khao villages; unfortunately these
houses were somewhat too small for the whole family to live in. Another problem
was that the two-story house was not suitable for the families that have the senior
member who has a diffi cult time going upstairs. In addition, as Ranong province has
rainy season for about 8 months yearly, the stair that was located outside the house's
shade deteriorated very quickly due to the rain and the moisture. As the residents in
the affected areas did not have chances to select the housing style that would fi t their
need most, they had to accept whatever was donated to. Due to this limitation, most
people who lived in these houses had to renovate the house using either their own
money or by supports from private foundations who came to help in renovation.
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