To expedite resettlement:

More land mine detectors, accessories

Lakshmi DE SILVA

The UN has gifted 200 mine detectors and accessories. Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa MP said though it came 160 days late it was most welcome and useful in expediting the land mine clearing process to accelerate resettling IDPs as scheduled.

United Nations Resident Representative Neil Buhne and UNDP Senior Program Manager Wuria Kradaghy handed over the detectors at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday.

Rajapaksa thanked UN Under Secretary General Sir John Holmes and other UN agencies for supporting the de-mining process.

"The Government has provided assistance to the IDPs to restart their lives by providing financial and material assistance.

They were provided assistance to repair or rebuild their houses.

All resettled IDP families were given a grant of Rs. 50,000, roofing sheets, cement, squatting pans for latrines, kitchenware, clothes, and dry rations for a period of six months," he noted.

Rajapaksa said farmer families were given quality seed paddy, agricultural implements and fertilizer free while the fisher families were given fiberglass boats and nets. Youth were given opportunities to start self-employment in their localities. The basic requirements like health services, electricity, schools, co-operatives, post offices, transport, Divisional Secretariat offices, agricultural offices had been opened in all the areas.

As promised by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Government will give everything for IDP families except the lives lost, he noted. The Government was taking a tremendous initiative over the last nine months in building up in its own capacity to de-mine and to clear explosive ordnances.

This was extremely important because the main barrier to people returning to their villages was the high level of danger from an abundance of mines and explosive ordnances, UN Resident Representative Neil Buhne said.

Nation Building Ministry Secretary W.K.K. Kumarasiri said the Government had spent Rs. 830 million to import 17 de-mining flail machines. UNDP was helping the Government since 2002 in this matter and a National Mine Action Centre was established with their support.