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Rains continue to lash Batticaloa

by Jayantha Sri Nissanka

Heavy rains continued to lash Batticaloa aggravating the flood situation while a beleaguered Government Agent is complaining of inadequate funds to cope with the rising number of displaced.

"The GA had received Rs.4 million to provide relief assistance ", sources told the Daily News yesterday. The Western Zone of the Batticaloa district and areas such as Neerankerni, Iyankerni, Sittandi, Pattipalai, Vellavali, Karadiyanaru, Iyaranakulam are the most affected.

"Therefore, due to the lack of funds, the GAs Office will assist only people who are severely affected", sources added.

However, the flood situation in Batticaloa and the surrounding areas continue to worsen as the heavy rains have not yet stopped. About 70,000 people were affected by the floods and about 10,000 have been displaced.

A Divisional Secretariat in the Western Zone of Batticaloa had also been shifted to the town as the flood situation had inundated roads to the Secretariat.

At the time of writing, Social Services Minister Ravindra Samaraweera was on a visit to Batticaloa to assess the situation. The Minister had already visited Ampara and released one million rupees as immediate relief measures to the flood victims.

He had called an urgent meeting at the Ampara Maritime Training Institute together with Minister Rauf Hakeem and officials to discuss ways to assist the people.

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