The ceremony to hand over water bowsers received as a grant from China under the China Aid Project was held yesterday under the patronage of Public Administration and Disaster Management Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara at the Disaster Management Centre premises.
Following a request made by President Maithripala Sirisena, the Chinese government donated 90 water bowsers worth nearly Rs. 10 million for disaster relief activities in all 25 districts.
The keys of the water bowsers were handed over to the district secretaries on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister Madduma Bandara said the present government had to face the highest number of disasters that the country has ever experienced. The dry weather that Sri Lanka has been experiencing in most parts of the country since the beginning of 2016 has affected 23 of 25 districts, while a vast area of agricultural land has been destroyed.
According to the Disaster Management Centre, the government has spent Rs. 41.6 million to provide drinking water for 359,122 families affected by drought in 22 districts in 2016 and Rs. 125 million for 536,929 affected families in 23 districts in 2017. The government also had to spend Rs. 93 million to provide drinking water for 1,113,858 drought-hit families in 19 districts in 2018.
The government had to spend Rs. 5.2 million to provide compensation for 523,336 farmer families in 24 districts in 2017 and Rs. 5.3 billion was spent to compensate 735,381 farmer families affected by the drought that prevailed in 19 districts in August and September.
Under the first phase of the drought relief assistance programme, the government had to spend Rs 2.1 billion to provide dry rations for 284,871drought-affected families in 2018 and another 1.7 billion was spent in the second phase of the project in the same year.
Minister Madduma Bandara stressed the importance of installing modern equipment that can easily forecast the changes of weather patterns to reduce disaster risks.
Ministry Secretary J.J. Rathnasiri and the heads of the institutions under the purview of the Ministry participated in the event.
Add new comment