Japanese technical support to manage Lankan natural disasters

Japan has agreed to provide technological know-how to Sri Lanka on handling natural disasters, Disaster Management Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa revealed.

Minister Yapa recently held discussions with the Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Keiichi Ishii, who is visiting Sri Lanka, on tackling natural disasters.

According to the Minister, a cooperation program is in progress between the two countries to cope with natural disasters and the Japanese Minister has arrived in the island to have further discussions about the program.

Under the cooperation program, attention has been drawn on developing a system to obtain accurate meteorological data and environmental research, etc. Discussions also focused on upgrading Sri Lanka’s weather forecasting system and controlling flooding. The Japanese delegation has agreed to provide support to upgrade the Meteorology Department with state-of-the-art technology. Minister Yapa said an exchange program would also be implemented between the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) and a Japanese organisation regarding landslide disasters. Japan has provided Rs. 3.4 billion (Japanese Yen 2.5 billion) to improve short-range weather forecasts through the establishment of a Doppler Weather Radar Network.