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Where
has all the money gone? More than 10 days after the report was made public, officials from the Task Force For Rebuilding the Nation (TAFREN)--the main agency involved in the reconstruction process---said they were awaiting its Chairman Mano Tittawella to return to the country to make any comment. The Audit Report on post tsunami activity, submitted by the Auditor General to Parliament highlighted a huge discrepancy between the funds received and the funds allocated. According to the report, submitted by the Auditor General, S.C. Mayadunne, of the US$ 1,168.80 million worth of foreign aid to be distributed among the sectors of fisheries, water and sanitation, housing and urban development, life support, health and education, only US$ 158.34 million – a mere 13.5% has been disbursed up to July 31.. As of August 17, of the Rs. 4,277,999,449 donated by 20 local institutions, only Rs. 1,576,318,448 – or 37% has been spent. Furthermore, Rs. 2,692,493,216 still remained with 18 of these institutions, the report said. TAFREN’s chief executive officer Rohini Nanayakkara said she couldn’t comment as she had just returned from overseas and had not been able to go through the report comprehensively. She said she would have to discuss the contents of the report with TAFREN Chairman , Mano Tittawella, currently overseas, before making a comment. Meanwhile,
Urban Development and Water Supply Ministry Secretary Thosapala
Hewage said, that the question of the allocation of funds did not
necessarily arise, with regard to the reconstruction efforts conducted
by the Ministry, as reconstruction was essentially done by foreign
donor agencies. Thereafter, the Ministry is given only a part of the payment, with the balance being paid in instalments in due course, he said. He said only 5-10% of the land was left to be identified and purchased/acquired and the only other pending payments were for the 2000 odd other plots of land that had been acquired but not paid compensation for as yet, as the inquiries to determine real ownership of the land, were still underway. He said most of the aforementioned 5-10% had already been identified and that it would be finalised over the next two to three weeks. Acquiring land according to the Acquisition Act is quite a tedious process, he said. Initially, paper notifications have to be published for claimants to come forward. Once ownership has been determined, then pre-construction work such as clearing and levelling the land begins. It is only then that construction proper can begin, he said. Furthermore, the Ministry has signed MoUs with foreign donors to build 35,000 of the approximately 40,000 houses that need to be built outside the buffer zone. Of the 35,000, work has started on 21,000 houses and 7000 houses are nearing completion, he added. The Ministry hopes to complete these houses by December 15, the latest, depending on the intensity of the monsoon rains. In spite of all these impressive figures, the reports from tsunami-affected areas tell another story. They say the figures projected in Colombo are not realistic as in some cases though they claim the housing projects were underway, only the initial groundwork had been done. Meanwhile, Media Officer of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Brennon Jones commenting on the Auditor General’s report said, “We have yet to formally receive a copy of the report and it is our understanding that the Government is in the process of responding to it.” The Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Social Welfare has utilised all the aid, (Rs. 2816 million) it had received thus far , Ministry secretary, A.N.R. Amaratunga said. The entire amount was distributed among the Government Agents to hand out dry rations, cooked meals and kitchen utensils to tsunami victims, he said. In addition, the Ministry still doles out small amounts to affected families, on request, he added. Total
donations: Rs. 17 billion |
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