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President gives blank cheque for flood relief efforts
View(s):Officials told to ignore circulars and spend funds
President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday directed District Secretaries in flood-affected areas to ignore circulars and spend funds on relief measures to those affected. He told a conference at the Kalutara District Secretariat that his directive should apply to all affected districts. The meeting came just hours after Mr. Sirisena returned to Sri Lanka following a visit to Australia.
The Police Chief, armed forces commanders and top Government officials took part in the discussion. As the death toll rose to 122 with 98 missing, three important areas were identified at the conference. Main among them was the continuation of search and rescue operations — though there were signs of flood waters receding — and providing cooked food for those rendered homeless.
President Sirisena said the Government would pay compensation to those whose houses were fully or partially damaged. Today, he will tour the worst-affected Ratnapura area. The Disaster Management Centre, set up specifically to deal with such tragedies, appears to have been unprepared. (See our P1 story).
Disaster Management Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa had left Sri Lanka before the floods to represent President Sirisena at an international event in Mexico. The President has also directed the immediate purchase of 10,000 life jackets to be airdropped to those who are still trapped on roofs or trees due to the floods.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department warned yesterday that heavy rains in excess of 100 millimeters were expected in the Western, Southern, Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces and several Northwestern Province areas tomorrow and Tuesday. According to statistics made available last evening, 493,455 persons were affected by the flood and landslide havoc, while 273 houses were fully damaged and about 700 partially.
Ratnapura, Galle, Kalutara and Matara have been the hardest hit areas by the worst floods since 2003. Most of the dead were victims of landslides, with Kalutara being the worst affected. Almost all the deaths in the district occurred due to large landslides in the Bulathsinhala area.
The National Building Research Organization (NBRO) last afternoon issued a 24-hour landslide warning to the Ratnapura, Kegalle, Galle, Kalutara, Matara, Hambantota, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya districts. The people were told to be on alert, if the rain continued. The Government announced last afternoon that the security forces and relief teams had reached all disaster areas which had been previously inaccessible.
About 1,500 personnel from 15 battalions of the Army were engaged in rescue operations yesterday. The Navy had deployed 86 specially trained rescue teams consisting of about 500 personnel along with 86 dinghy boats.
The Air Force, meanwhile, deployed six helicopters and a Beechcraft observation aircraft. The Navy has rescued more than 3000 people and the Air Force 26 by last afternoon. The Army had rescued over 1,100.
The Air Force is also airlifting cooked food from the Ratmalana air base to affected areas in coordination with District and Divisional Secretaries.
Rs.150 million have so far been released as emergency disaster relief, officials said. Compensation will be provided for those who were killed while houses which were damaged would also be rebuilt at state expense.
Mass Media and Information Deputy Minister Karunarathna Paranawithana told journalists yesterday that some people had asked whether they could cremate those whose bodies had been recovered. He, however, said they had been advised to keep the bodies in the mortuary of the nearest hospital as post-mortem inquests needed to be carried out and death certificates issued.
Meanwhile, National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) Chairman K.A. Ansar said the water supply to Ratnapura and Matara had been disrupted as the floods and landslides had damaged the pipelines.