Tsunami rebuilding nearing completion
MOHAMMED NAALIR
The tsunami rehabilitation effort is nearing completion with the
Government and donor agencies being able to resettle more than 80 per
cent of the victims and reconstruct most of the damaged infrastructure.
The December 26, 2004 tsunami killed nearly 40,000 people and
rendered one million homeless in Sri Lanka. Only Indonesia had more
casualties. Sri Lanka received US$ 1.13 billion from donor countries and
agencies after the tsunami for reconstruction and the Government also
poured in billions of rupees.
The Government has resettled over 80 per cent of the tsunami victims
within three years all over the country under the tsunami resettlement
and rehabilitation programme, Coordinating Director to the President on
Post Tsunami Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Affairs Shanthi Fernando
said.
Nearly 8,865 families are staying in 58 welfare camps throughout the
country. They too will be resettled as the construction of 21,889
housing units is progressing fast. Compensation to construct a house for
a tsunami victim family has been increased from Rs 500,000 to Rs.
700,000.
About 97 per cent of the partly damaged houses and 62 per cent of the
fully damaged houses in seven districts have been completed. The
reconstruction programme in the North and East is likely to take some
more time.
Figures for December 2007, provided by the Reconstruction and
Development Agency (RADA), show that some 99,552 houses had been
provided up to December this year out of the initial requirement of
117,372 units in the 13 districts that were affected.
Nearly all of the hospitals destroyed by the tsunami have been fully
rebuilt and more than 100 schools have been re-opened.
The tsunami of 2004 damaged approximately 1,200 km of roads along the
coast. The rehabilitation of the nearly 114 Km of tsunami-damaged
southern coastal road to Matara has been completed.
The World Bank provided US$33 million (40 per cent in grant and 60
per cent in credit) for the reconstruction.
Overall, the total expended on some 710 projects in the 13
tsunami-affected districts has so far been US$ 633.8 million. |