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Roundup: Sri Lanka seeks int'l assistance in rebuilding after floods, landslides

Xinhua, May 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

Sri Lanka has sought international monetary assistance in rebuilding the island nation after devastating floods and landslides killed at least 101 people and displaced over 200,000 last week, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said on Wednesday.

Addressing the Foreign Correspondents Association in the capital, Karunanayake said that the country has received "tremendous" international support and the government now hopes to receive monetary assistance in terms of grants and commercial loans.

The government has said that the damage incurred from the floods and landslides may value up to 2 billion U.S. dollars.

Resettlement efforts have already begun, but the government said more assistance was required.

According to a preliminary assessment, so far 101 people have been killed in the floods and landslides owing to days of heavy rains last week while 620,000 people have been affected across the island.

Around 30,000 houses have been completely damaged while 128,000 houses have been partly damaged. Several small and medium businesses have also been severely affected by the floods.

However, rescue teams say the numbers may be much higher.

"Our initial estimate shows the damages being in the range of 1.5 billion to 2 billion US dollars," the minister said.

He added that the government, through the 2016 budget, has allocated 10 billion rupees for damage through natural disasters and those funds are now being utilized to begin resettling families whose houses were partly destroyed.

Karunanayake said that insurance claims, till Tuesday, were amounting to 5 billion rupees.

"There is a lot that needs to be done and we want to get the country back to normal as soon as possible. The government is putting in all its efforts to provide relief to the people who have been affected," Karunanayake said.

He further said that new laws will come into effect next month, which would require people to get an environmental approval before constructing a house which would ensure that these houses are not built in zones which are prone to landslides and floods. Endit