Officials on a tug of war - No lands- NGOs lament: "Date : 2005-04-22, Sunil C. Perera in Colombo
Colombo, 22 April, (Asiantribune.com): Some leading NGOs of Sri Lanka said that the government authorities are still blocking allocation of lands to construct houses for the tsunami victims.
However, Deputy Fisheries minister and the Premier inspected devastated areas and understood the present situation of the proposed projects.
The Deputy Fisheries Minister said that NGOs are threatening to remove their assistance from the tsunami housing projects due to the lack of assistance from government officials. Deputy Fisheries Minister Nihal Galappaththi said some foreign donors who came forward to build houses for the affected fishing families, had been discouraged by this situation.
The local media said on Tuesday that land allocation was the major problem in the construction of houses for the tsunami victims.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksha has called upon individuals and organizations that are interested with the task of building houses for the tsunami victims to speed the process. He already understood the present delay on construction works, said an official close to the Premier.
However, Prime Minister has advised the contractors to take immediate steps to construct houses for the tsunami victims, " Asian Tribune" learn.
At present nearly 90 percent of tsunami victims are still residing in tents and in other forms of temporary shelters .In the rainy days, victims find difficult to reside in tents.
Meanwhile, building contractors said that they have received numerous orders to construct houses. They added that the construction sector would receive over 6.5 percent growth during this quarter.
“In the third quarter of the last year, the construction sector obtained 6.5 percent growth due to the various government and foreign funded projects, said a leading building contractor.
According to the Central Bank figures, the sector has shown a good performance due to the launching of several development projects.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Tsunami Relief Monitoring Committee says that the tsunami relief programs have been carried out successfully.
These programmes have been undertaken by the government as well as by the voluntary organizations. The officials of the committee monitors the relief activities in all 13 tsunami ravaged districts. The President of the committee Lionel Fernando said that all the welfare centers located in the north have been vacated by the refugees. A complete report to this effect will be forwarded to the Human Rights commission in June this year. Eight Interim Reports have already been issued in this regard.
- Asian Tribune - "
Colombo, 22 April, (Asiantribune.com): Some leading NGOs of Sri Lanka said that the government authorities are still blocking allocation of lands to construct houses for the tsunami victims.
However, Deputy Fisheries minister and the Premier inspected devastated areas and understood the present situation of the proposed projects.
The Deputy Fisheries Minister said that NGOs are threatening to remove their assistance from the tsunami housing projects due to the lack of assistance from government officials. Deputy Fisheries Minister Nihal Galappaththi said some foreign donors who came forward to build houses for the affected fishing families, had been discouraged by this situation.
The local media said on Tuesday that land allocation was the major problem in the construction of houses for the tsunami victims.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksha has called upon individuals and organizations that are interested with the task of building houses for the tsunami victims to speed the process. He already understood the present delay on construction works, said an official close to the Premier.
However, Prime Minister has advised the contractors to take immediate steps to construct houses for the tsunami victims, " Asian Tribune" learn.
At present nearly 90 percent of tsunami victims are still residing in tents and in other forms of temporary shelters .In the rainy days, victims find difficult to reside in tents.
Meanwhile, building contractors said that they have received numerous orders to construct houses. They added that the construction sector would receive over 6.5 percent growth during this quarter.
“In the third quarter of the last year, the construction sector obtained 6.5 percent growth due to the various government and foreign funded projects, said a leading building contractor.
According to the Central Bank figures, the sector has shown a good performance due to the launching of several development projects.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Tsunami Relief Monitoring Committee says that the tsunami relief programs have been carried out successfully.
These programmes have been undertaken by the government as well as by the voluntary organizations. The officials of the committee monitors the relief activities in all 13 tsunami ravaged districts. The President of the committee Lionel Fernando said that all the welfare centers located in the north have been vacated by the refugees. A complete report to this effect will be forwarded to the Human Rights commission in June this year. Eight Interim Reports have already been issued in this regard.
- Asian Tribune - "
