Most whose whose ravaged homes fall on the seaward side of the pole will be marking their crosses for opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, those on the inland side for Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse.

The pole marks the limit of the 100-meter (yard) building-free buffer zone the government declared soon after the December 26 tsunami devastated Sri Lankan shores and killed more than 31,000 people.

While in many tsunami-battered areas the demarcation line remains blurred, in Telewatta, where the giant waves up-ended a train killing more than 1,000 people, the building curbs have been strictly enforced.

Reconstruction has been going well for Athula Mendis, 44, with his new three-bedroom home already at roof height. Meanwhile he and his family of six are staying on the property in a wood and iron shack built for them by the group Danish People's Aid.

"The government has looked after me well," said Mendis, a painter, citing total compensatory of about 68,000 rupees (680 dollars) as well as funding for the new house and even food ration coupons. "I'm going to vote for Mahinda."

Just across the imaginary line, however, Nanda Kulasena becomes enraged when the name Rajapakse is mentioned.

"What has he done for us?" she yells. "Those on the other side of the line get houses, money, food. What do we get? Nothing! We lost our houses, we lost our children. What are we left with? Nothing!"

Admitting later that she and her family had in fact received 20,000 rupees in four tranches in government compensation for her losses, she was adamant however, that this was nowhere near enough.

"I'm voting for Ranil," she said. "He has promised to do away with the 100-meter zone. How does it help anyway? Here the waves went inland 500 meters. Why stop at 100 meters?"

Not everyone whose fate it was to have built their home within the 100- meter zone shared the same resentment.

School teacher S. Jayakodi, a neighbour of Mendis, was sitting under the coconut trees with her children, who were playing with mobile telephones.

"The government can't be blamed -- it could do nothing to stop the tsunami," she said. "I think the 100-meter rule is a good one. We don't want to rebuild here anyway. It is not safe. We just came to our property because we like it here."

She and her family had found land further inland and were busy rebuilding there. A longtime supporter of Rajapakse's Freedom Alliance, she had no intention of changing her vote this time round.

But for business people in the area, and further south at Hikkaduwa, the 100-meter zone has been a burning issue. Under the ruling, buildings within the zone which were slightly damaged are allowed to be repaired, but those badly damaged or totally destroyed cannot be rebuilt.

Entrepreneur H. A. Ranjith and his wife Andireka defied the rules and rebuilt his Southern Cool Sport and Chinese Restaurant right on the water's edge on the upper side of Hikkaduwa.

"The government told us to stop, but we ignored them. They haven't come yet with hammers to knock it down," said Andireka inside the bustling eatery with its sweeping views of Hikkaduwa's colourful fishing boat harbour.

The mayor of Hikkaduwa, his town now filling up with Western tourists again after months of seeing few foreigners apart from aid workers, feels that the 100-meter issue will die a quick death once the presidential poll is over.

The limit had already been reduced by the government in some areas about a month ago, while Rajapakse has promised a review if he comes to power.

"We don't like the 100-meter rule," said mayor Manoj Jayasuriya. "It is hampering the rebuilding of the town. Many people are not rebuilding because the government said they can't. It must go."

For families living in shacks in a camp set up by aid groups at a Buddhist temple in Hikkaduwa, the election issues are more basic.

"We are attacked by mosquitoes all night," said H. L. Asoka inside her modest wooden shack. "Our house was further away than 100 meters but we have no money to rebuild. I'll vote for anyone who rids us of the mosquitoes."

"Or who buys me one of those," she added with a grin, pointing to a poster on the wall showing a massive British mansion surrounded by colourful flower gardens, rolling lawns and spectacular views of nearby hills.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.