Fin. Min. directed to fund flood relief: PM

The army assisting flood victims in Kilinochchi 

• Nearly 80,000 people estimated to be affected in North and Central provinces 
• Disaster Management Minister visits affected areas, presents report to RW
• Finance Ministry directed to release funds for continuous and consistent relief 
• Prime Minister requests private sector to assist relief operations  

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday directed the Finance Ministry to release funds to provide relief to thousands of people faced with floods in the north and central provinces, the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement. 

The directive from the Prime Minister came after Disaster Management Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara undertook a visit to the affected areas on Monday and presented a report of the scale of the disaster to Wickremesinghe, the statement said. 

“The Prime Minister has instructed the Finance Ministry to release all necessary funds and to begin compensation to the affected as well. He also appeals to the private sector to assist in the provision of relief to the assisted people,” the statement said.  

Nearly 80,000 people have been affected by floods in the North and parts of the Central province. According to statistics of the Disaster Management Centre around 73,000 people have been affected in the Northern Province, while about 38,534 have been affected in the Kilinochchi District, and around 20,737 in Mullaitivu. The Disaster Management Centre said that 12,642 have been affected in the Jaffna District as well, while over 10,000 people affected by flash floods in the North have been sheltered in temporary camps.

More than 230 troops have been engaged in relief operations since heavy rains lashed the North on Saturday. Meanwhile, in the Kandy District in the Central province, around 890 people have been affected by flash floods.

 Over the weekend, it was reported President Maithripala Sirisena has instructed the relevant authorities to provide immediate relief to the people affected by the heavy rains and floods in the Mullaitivu, Mannar, and Kilinochchi districts in the North.

President Sirisena instructed the relevant authorities to provide all necessary relief facilities to the people in the affected areas until the floods subside, and immediately release the necessary provisions to the District Secretaries.

The President also instructed the authorities to coordinate with Northern Province Governor Reginald Cooray, District Secretaries, the Army Commander and the Disaster Management Centre to carry out the relief programs expeditiously.

Heavy rains in the Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, and Mannar Districts for the past two days triggered severe floods, and caused authorities to open sluice gates of all reservoirs, including the Iranamadu Tank, which have reached spill levels.

According to the latest update released by the Disaster Management Centre, 54,819 people from 16,872 families have been hit by the floods, and 11,299 people from 3,602 families have been evacuated to 38 shelters within the five districts of Mullaitivu, Mannar, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, and Jaffna Districts in the Northern Province.