All areas affected by floods & landslides declared High Security Zones

President Maithripala Sirisena instructed the government officials yesterday to  ban reclamation of lands in the Western Province and ordered not to allow any unauthorized dwellings in the future.

During the meeting it was decided to declare all areas affected by floods and landslides as High Security Zones (HSZs) and this decision were taken to ensure the safety of those areas. He made these remarks during a meeting with the Special Task Force on Disaster Management yesterday held at the Presidential Secretariat.

President Sirisena also instructed officials to bring all houses affected by disaster under proper technical evaluation before the resettlement of families.

The officials pointed out that unauthorized settlements and reclamation of lands are the main cause of the disaster situation. He said that these measures were taken fulfilling the duties of the Government to prevent a recurrence of this situation in the future.