AN ALBASTON resident who has been to India as a volunteer to help salvage fishing boats described the situation in the tsunami-hit area as ?beyond all imagining?. Michael Forwood, a part-time captain in the Merchant Navy, has recently returned after spending a couple of weeks in the country with a team of three from Rotary International. Although not a member of the organisation himself, he was invited along because of his specialist knowledge on wooden sailing ships. Mr Forwood said: ?We went over to see what we could do with the fishing fleet in South India. We went with one idea and came up with another.? He said he first thought it would be a case of taking over a couple of shipwrights to repair vessels, but what they found was ?beyond all imagining?. ?The Indian government has provided housing and food, but no infrastructure. They have lifted all of the boats out of houses, roads and trees and lined them up, but most are beyond repair,? he said. Mr Forwood said there was a lot of government in-fighting, with fishermen wanting reasonable compensation, but the government was only offering part grant and part loan, so nothing was happening. Districts which supported the government have been offered more compensation than those which did not, he said. The Indian government, unlike Sri Lanka, has not been asking for help from outside agencies, not regarding itself as a third world country. It was intent on remaining in control of everything that happened, said Mr Forwood. But after a series of meetings with fisheries officers and others in authority the team zeroed in on the village of Palayar, approximately 200km south of former Madras. The village is one of 62 in the district of Nagaputtinam, worst hit by the disaster. Of its 3,500 inhabitants, 1,800 rely on fishing. Nearly all of their boats ended up in a swamp or a shallow creek, which meant it would be easier to retrieve and save them as they were less damaged. Rotary International has offered to finance the salvaging of up to 50 boats, which will cost approximately £90,000, and a contractor has been found to do the job. Final approval from the authorities is awaited, and Mr Forwood hopes to return to the area in approximately two weeks time to supervise the operation, once permission has been granted.
