Donated millions do not necessarily add up to help on the ground, writes Jon Swain in Galle, Sri Lanka

Geoffrey Dobbs will never forget the moment a fisherman threw him a line and saved his life. On Boxing Day he was swimming around his small island home of Taprobane, 200 yards off the shore of southern Sri Lanka, when he was swept away.

He and his brother Michael desperately grabbed on to a catamaran that had been pushed between a palm tree and the roof of a house.

³We could hear the terrified screams of women and children in the houses beyond. They never stood a chance.²

Five minutes later the waters subsided and Dobbs found himself resting on the side of the road. Then a second wave swept in and carried him away again.

³A local fisherman threw me a line. Without it I would probably have drowned,² he said. His brother was taken out to sea but also survived.

Now Dobbs, a Hong Kong-based British businessman who pioneered luxury tourism in Sri Lanka, is repaying his debt by helping to reconstruct the devastated Sri Lankan fishing communities. With other foreigners who have made their homes on the island, he is pumping his own money into repairing boats and outboard motors and buying new fishing nets.

He is part of the extraordinary outpouring of generosity that has seen people and countries around the world donate up to £3.2 billion to help survivors of the tsunami. But Dobbs has one great advantage: his aid is on the ground and getting through already.

His group is supporting 10 fishing communities in the port of Weligama which had 100 boats, all damaged or destroyed. Dobbs and others have formed a coalition to bring in more aid.

³We are spending money and hoping for donations later,² Dobbs said. ³We are not a charity. We are genuinely trying to help the people recover.²

Their target is to raise $5m. Two wealthy businessman, a Belgian who runs a tyre factory and a German who has one of Sri Lanka¹s biggest organic farms, have contributed $1m between them already. Dobbs has put in $50,000 of his own money.

Among their various projects they are providing a daily hot meal for 7,500 people made homeless in Weligama.

But even for this impromptu aid outfit with local expertise, the problems of getting medicines and other materials to where they are most needed are clear. On Tuesday the German organic farmer brought in a 747 jumbo jet filled with food, medicines and water pumps. At first it was held up by customs controls. Then it turned out there was no transport to deliver all the water that the purification plant could produce.

The authorities had been slow off the mark. Chandrika Kumaratunga, the president, was on holiday in London over Christmas. The armed forces had to wait until her return before being instructed to run the aid programme. It was nine days after the disaster before military co-ordinators were appointed to each district.

Such bottlenecks and bungles have plagued previous aid operations and are hampering this one in the worst-hit areas. Though a vast amount of money has been pledged to help, there is no guarantee that it will all arrive or be wisely used.