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| Wednesday, 21 January 2004 |
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A new life for flood victims by Anura Maitipe The twin rivers "Gin Ganga" and "Nilwala Ganga" flowing at a low ebb from the hidden water sprouts of the Sinharaja tropical forest are very calm and crystal clear. But a few months ago it was a different story. Water level reached its peak and caused havoc by devastating lives of people, houses, crops and livestock due to floods following heavy rains. When I visited the area a week ago the lives of people have returned to normal and it was a common sight throughout my journey that men, women and children bathe, wash their clothes, irrigate their crops and play on the river banks. The Chief Secretary of Southern Province R.Wickremaratne said "It was the biggest destruction caused by the floods in the recent past. As a result 104 people died. Over 3750 houses were destroyed and 69235 families rendered homeless". However during my recent visit to Hiniduma, Lankagama, Neluwa, Mapalagama and Morawaka it appeared that speedy reconstruction works had begun and many of those houses which were damaged due to the floods have already been reconstructed with financial assistance of Rs 104.5 million provided by the President's Fund. Governor of the Southern Province Kingsley T Wickremaratne said "President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga who visited and met people in the area at the time of the tragedy has instructed officials to set-up a disaster management committee to expedite the rehabilitation process and needed funds were allocated from the President's Fund to expedite rehabilitation and reconstruction process to bring normalcy to their lives". The chief incumbent Ven. Habarakada Indrarathana Thera said, "The floods caused severe damages to the temple and two buildings were completely destroyed. It is regretful to say that the Buddha Sasana Ministry did not even inquire about the damage caused to the temples in the area. Neither the Minister nor officials of the ministry were seen at the time of the floods. I must thank the President for allocating funds from the President's Fund to rehabilitate the damaged temples in the flood affected areas". The Principal of Neluwa National School, Bandula Jayasinghe said, "Lankagama Junior School, Godapitiya Muslim School and Habarakada Pirivena were badly damaged due to the floods. However these three schools are under construction now. The President's Fund has provided Rs 3 million for the construction of the Habarakada Pirivena and Godapitiya Muslim schools". The reconstruction of the Lankagama Junior School which is situated in a very remote area was undertaken by The Associate Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL) which has provided the required fund for construction of the School. |
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