Sri Lankan NZ community leader safe

The Sri Lankan community in New Zealand was celebrating yesterday after news filtered through that one of their leaders was safe.

Titus de Silva, listed by the New Zealand Consulate in Colombo as one of four people still missing after the tsunami, contacted authorities to say he and wife Anoma were safe.

The couple were in the worst-hit areas of Colombo, but were now safe in Australia.

Mahinda Attanayake, president of the United Sri Lanka Association in Auckland, said Mr and Mrs de Silva had done a huge amount for the Sri Lankan community.

It would be a "great relief" to many that they were safe, he said.

But scores of Sri Lankan families here are still facing a painful wait to hear whether loved ones made it through the disaster.

Mr Attanayake said most of his countrymen living here knew people who had lost homes.

Several had lost extended family while up to 200 were still anxiously waiting for news of loved ones.

"We have heard unofficially that some have lost their lives, but it is not confirmed and the waiting is very hard," Mr Attanayake said.

There are about 6000 Sri Lankans living in New Zealand, with about half that number in Auckland.

Mr Attanayake said the community had pulled together to raise funds for their country.

The money would be specifically diverted to help rebuild houses and to children's charities.

"Much of the international aid is for immediate help, but we want this money to go towards rebuilding the future for the Sri Lankan children," Mr Attanayake said.
"The response from our own communities and from the New Zealand people has been tremendous."

University of Auckland Sri Lankan Youth group has also been raising money by running sausage sizzles, and rattling collection tins in Queen Street and Newmarket.

In the week since the tsunami hit, the group of students have raised $19,000 which will be handed over to Oxfam. The number of New Zealanders unaccounted for has dropped, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying there were 784. Of those, 24 were considered to "warrant a concentrated effort to determine their whereabouts".

The number of missing for whom "grave concerns" were held remained at four.

Three of those are believed to be Stephen Bond, and Belinda and Andrew Welch - presumed dead by their families.

Meanwhile, the Wairarapa family of Shane Street is still hoping for good news on his whereabouts.

The 24-year-old last contacted his father, Sid Street, from Phuket on Boxing Day before the waves struck.

Mr Street said yesterday that his son, who has been travelling for six months, usually got in touch about once a month, and the family was hopeful of hearing from him by the end of January.