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by Mohammed Rasooldeen in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia has shipped 100 tons of aid material including food to the 350,000 people who were affected by the recent drought in the island. The Acting Chairman of the Saudi Red Crescent Society (SRS), Saleh Al Tuwaijri told Daily News here, Monday.

The consignment was donated by the society on the direction of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahad Bin Abdul Aziz.

A senior official from the Saudi Red Crescent Society. Abdul Aziz Nazeer Al Draihi will be leaving for Colombo during the weekend to hand over the consignment officially to the Foreign Ministry in Colombo.

The Royal directive was a sequel to the appeal made by the Sri Lankan ambassador Ibrahim Sahib Ansar on a appeal made by the Foreign Ministry in Colombo to assist the drought victims in areas such as Hambantota, Puttalam, Moneragala, Ratnapura, Badulla and Kurunegala.

While thanking the Saudi government for its generous gesture. Ambassador Ansar said that this is not the first time that the Kingdom has assisted the government of Sri Lanka, it has funded Sri Lanka on several occasions. Recently the diplomat said that the Saudi Fund For Development (SFD), agreed to release a sum of SLRS 100 million to construct a National Trauma Center in Colombo. It has also provided the island with project loans on three previous occasions. It offered SR 99.9 million for the second stage of the Water Supply and Sewerage project and gave SR 48.1 million for the Mahaweli Ganga Development Project System B in 1981. Subsequently, Sri Lanka obtained SR 85 million for the Mahaweli Ganga Development Project System B Left Bank in 1984.

In 1985, under the Mahaweli Development Project, Sri Lanka was able to build a model town in the ancient city of Polonnaruwa in the eastern part of Sri Lanka where a large market has been named as 'Riyadh Market'.

On an initiative made by the envoy, the Sri Lankan Expatriates Society in Riyadh has already collected Rs. 600,000 from the Sri Lankan expatriates here to initiate constructive and relief projects in drought hit places. 

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