Recovery from natural disaster: a study on tsunami-affected micro, small and medium enterprises in Galle and Matara districts in Sri Lanka

The main objective of this study is to show recovery and re-establishment of tsunami-affected micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Galle and Matara districts in Sri Lanka. The primary and secondary data and information for this study were obtained from available literature, websites and publications, sample surveys and interviews. Results showed that the needs of tsunami-affected MSMEs were ignored and that there were many governance-related problems in the recovery process in both districts. Further, the rate of business recovery is around 62%. Due to the large scale of the disaster, its wide geographical spreads, and involvement of large number of agents, institutions and parties involved in the distribution of benefits and in the recovery process, it is hard assign blame to any single entity regarding accountability of government or other institutions for their conduct and performance in the recovery process.