Compensation Valuation for Disasters in Sri Lanka with Reference to Explosion at Salawa Armory in Avissawella

Abstract

Disasters can be classified under three main groups such as natural, man-made, and technological. The classification of disasters as per the literature review is related to meteorological, geotectonic, and biological events like floods, droughts, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, pest attacks, mudslides, and landslides. The prompt payment of compensation calculation becomes a must in any disaster that destroys or harmfully affects to the man-made assets, human and social capital. Sri Lanka had past experiences on different kinds of disasters and massive time slots including human resources were wasted in calculating compensation due to absence of a proper systematic pathway. This paper mainly focuses to identify a comprehensive methodology for disaster damage and loss assessment for compensation in Sri Lanka. A random sample of 45 residents those who faced to the explosion living in the immediate vicinity of Salawa Armory and 15 professional valuation officers from Government Valuation Department of Sri Lanka were interviewed using a structured questionnaire, in addition observations were carried out at the inspection of damaged properties. The study identified that economic, environmental and social losses should be added in calculating the compensation other than the value for physical damages. While suggesting a method to calculate the loss of income as an indicator a comprehensive model including pathway guidelines for disaster valuation was developed. It is recommended that a base line information system should be maintained at GN level immediately covering the whole country. Keywords: Disaster, Damages, Losses, Valuation, Compensation