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Aid flows in for flood relief : PM invites President to head Disaster Management Committee

by Chatura Vidyaratne, Manjula Fernando and Nadira Gunathilaka

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has proposed the establishment of a Disaster Management Committee headed by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. The Committee will be entrusted with the task of putting into motion urgent steps that are necessary at times of natural disasters.

The Cabinet Paper in this regard is due to be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers today (21).

The Daily News learns that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has already invited the President to Chair this Committee.

Legislation pertaining to disaster management was first mooted by the former PA regime. In terms of the proposed enactments the Chairman of the Disaster Management Committee was to be the Prime Minister of the country. However, under the Present Government Premier Wickremesinghe decided to make the President the Head of this Committee.

The relevant Cabinet Paper in this regard has already been sent to the President according to reports.

The main function of the Disaster Management Committee will be to monitor details and co-ordinate efforts at times of natural disasters. The Committee will comprise the Prime Minister and the Ministers in charge of the subject. In addition there will be a Steering Committee in operation which will be headed by Minister Karu Jayasuriya.

Ministers John Amaratunga, Ravindra Samaraweera, P. Dayaratne and Sarathchandra Rajakaruna will function in both Committees.

Meanwhile, International and local assistance continued pouring in yesterday for the victims of the worst floods experienced in the country after 56 years.

More than 237 persons have been confirmed dead in the deluge, which also marooned 177,820 families (Matara 83,300 families, Galle 40,000, Ratnapura 50,000, Kalutara 24,650, Gampaha, Colombo, Hambantota 11,000). The Government has already allocated Rs.17.29 million for relief.

International assistance is flowing in the aftermath of the floods that devastated several districts. Two Indian aircraft, IL 72 and IL 76 geared to provide special medical assistance to flood affected people, arrived at the Katunayake International airport yesterday.

One aircraft flown from Hyderabhad arrived in Colombo around noon yesterday and the other in the evening. These two aircraft equipped with 2,500 blankets, a large number of tents and communication equipment is carrying a staff of specially trained doctors and medical assistants to cope with a sudden spread of infectious diseases likely to occur during floods, Indian Foreign Ministry sources told the Daily News yesterday.

Two heavy duty generators and two engineers to assist the power restoration operations were also on board these two aircraft. There is a total blackout in flood affected areas due to damage to power supply system and the communication network has also been completely destroyed. India also sent a ship carrying relief supplies to Galle.

The United States has informed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of a $ 50,000 grant to provide emergency relief to the flood victims, a statement from the Embassy of the United States said.

In informing the Prime Minister of the donation, Ambassador Wills said, "My government is deeply saddened by the loss of life and by the plight of thousands of displaced Sri Lankan families in flooded areas. I am gratified, therefore, on behalf of my government, to present this first gesture of support to the Sri Lankan people".

"We stand ready to assist Sri Lanka in this time of need", said the Ambassador. Ms. Mariza Rogers of USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, will arrive shortly to advise on how the U.S. Government might further its assistance.

This grant will be administered by the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society. The Red Cross will use the grant to purchase sleeping mats, bedsheets, cooking utensils, lanterns, clothing, and other items lost by families in the flooding. Water purification kits will also be provided.

The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) will also make more than o200,000 ($350,000) available for immediate relief assistance through Oxfam and UNHCR. This will enable Non Food Relief Items (NFRI) packs which contain articles such as soap, towels, bedsheets, candles, matches, kitchen sets and plasticwares to be distributed to approximately 10,000 families.

Mike O'Brien, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister with direct responsibility for South Asia, sent a message of condolence to the Prime Minster Ranil Wickremesinghe.

O'Brien said: "Having visited Sri Lanka in January, it came as a particular shock to me to learn of the terrible flooding which has afflicted the southern part of Sri Lanka and taken so many lives and left so many homeless. Please accept my condolences. Our thoughts are with those who have been bereaved and those who are suffering as a result of this natural disaster."

Norway has also pledged Rs.95 million for flood relief.

President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Social Welfare Minister Ravindra Samaraweera separately toured Ratnapura districts to inspect requirements of flood victims.

Representatives of all UN agencies including the UNHCR also toured the flood hit areas yesterday and they will submit their report today, Social Welfare Ministry Secretary Vijayalakshmi Jegarasasingam said.

"The flood waters are receding and if there is no more rain the risks are abated, but not completely," said Brenda Barrett, from the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, one of the groups involved in the relief effort.

Minister Samaraweera said there were no reliable numbers for those missing. "We can't assess the situation fully because some places are still not reachable," he said.

Indian Navy divers were deployed for the recovery operation as a search for bodies got under way with signs of water levels going down.

Meanwhile, the Automobile Association said that almost all the roads down south are clear and roads in Kalutara North are also open for the traffic despite some flood water. Roads in the Ratnapura district are still under water and soil. These roads are not open for traffic.

The Meteorology Department said that scattered rains will spread countrywide time to time especially in Sabaragamuwa, South, Western and Central provinces. Thunder showers will spread in the Uva province in the evenings.

Staff attached to the Ministry of Port Development and Shipping, Ports Authority and all other institutions comes under the purview of the Ministry will donate their one day salary to set up a fund in order to assist to re-build damaged houses by the floods.

Meanwhile the Director, Coast Conservation Department, Dr. R.A.D.B. Samaranayake said that the Department had taken measures to expand the estuaries of Ginthota to enable the free floor of flood water.

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