The fires that used to last a year ago were washed by sea water and now new ones are beginning spring up. The problem is they are a bit warmer than the earlier ones.

Post-Tsunami issues are building up day by day and more entries get on the problem list even while our eyes are closed. The time has come for survivors to put out their thoughts on the plight itself rather than how the waves knocked their homes. Their coming out one by one to make their move, and it's gonna be a very tough one to crack.

So what are we dealing with? PPTS, I guess. Some have taken the path of suing the government for failing to save the lives of their loved ones. Survivors like Mr. Perera believes that the government should have issued an early warning, by whatever means, at least after the initial tsunami wave and should have taken rescue measures to minimize the damage. This is an issue that's discussed by almost everyone in the island and the majority of course believes there were many steps that could have been taken to prevent the large numbers. But hey! It was a Sunday, the day after Christmas and also a poya day. They needed a break! (Not many over here remember Pearl Harbor)

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii had intercepted the seismic activity and made the call to the appropriate authorities. However, our local administration vaguely denied any such interception to save themselves from loosing all aid and debt relief flowing their way, in case it never slipped out. Why me, Aren't they so good at it?

As the government banned re-construction of buildings under 100-200 meters from the shore, the displaced are wondering whether they will ever have a home again. There are thousands who have left with nothing, and I don't think, as of yet, there is a definite plan to provide shelter for each one of them. But however that goes, the survivors themselves have become opinionated.

Some are refusing to leave their old places, no matter how bad they look. They are determined to find a new life on the same ground that they once lived happily. Like this one.

My father was a fisherman and I built this place from the scratch. I won't leave this place under any circumstances.

As some have the courage to face their destiny, others who have lost all hope are reluctant to make a move. They are unpleased at their own presence and have given up everything they once loved.

We have lost everything. We will never recover this loss. Whether we live or die, we don't mind.

Then there are others who are filled with contempt who no longer desires a sea side shelter. You can often hear them say,

I don't want to go back to the beach. I want to go abroad!

I wish they knew how the government heads work. Talking about the heads, there's also chaos about the change in security zones and the influx of INGO's. The numbers are increasing at an alarming rate and no one knows what they are doing or how they got here. But when a country is in mess, I don't think that's gonna be hard to cross.

At the present state, any 'figure' be it, B. Bush or D. Donkey, could make his way in without a tear. As Robert Marquand pins in his interesting essay on Finding Sri Lanka

Before the tsunami, Sri Lanka was not easy to enter - at least not for a foreign correspondent. You visited the embassy, met a diplomat, shared a cup of milk tea, then got your visa a week later. Or longer. After the tsunami, I got there in a day.

It doesn't surprise me why the president cancelled elections for the next 6 years. So much for state control!

Another large scale problem is agriculture close to the shoreline. A large extent of cropland in the coastal areas were inundated by sea water. They were physically damaged through soil erosion and deposition of large amounts of sand and debris. To make it even worse, sea water intrusion has also led to the development of soil salinity, harming present crops and threatening future cultivation. I think it's high time they focus on issues broader than fisheries.

Then comes education. Students who survived the disaster have requested authorities to relax student rules and give temporary placements on unaffected schools so they could continue their studies. There are students who abandoned everything to escape the tsunami, everything but their educational certificates, just so that they could hope their future dream would have some assurance in a country where papers matter more than anything else. The futures of these poor children are in the hands of those who had a safe and wonderful Christmas weekend, and their decision will most likely color the clouds on top.

And in the tale of "Tigers shall sleep with the lambs", things had reached a peak of turbulence and now reduced to none. The government has laid its new plan on dealing with the rebel after a progression of ramming during the past few weeks. But the nature of the tale is nothing new to the people who have been going through hell in an earthly way. As the US Marines, and others along, have been given the leave warrant two weeks from now, it will be the task of local authorities to fully coordinate and execute the re-construction work. Though the scale shows an extreme imbalance, the best we could do is to continue with our little efforts and hope the ones with privileges do what they were chosen to do.

One way to prove it is not to confuse tsunami debris with garbage dumps. But hey, that's the irony with frogs.