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| Sunday, 9 January 2005 |
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Massive aid scheme by SLC for tsunami victims by Ranjan Anandappa Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will pay its ultimate tribute to the victims of the Tsunami disaster that occurred on December 26 in this cricket crazy land by launching the Disaster Assistance Fund. This was agreed to at a conference of SLC held last Wednesday. Sri Lanka Cricket has found that there could not be a more appropriate time to help the nation and considers this as a national responsibility. "The disaster has taken thousands of lives and made thousands homeless. Many of our ardent supporters and many cricketers including the 1984 Ananda College cricket captain Sujeeva Kamalasuriya and other innocent people have lost their lives. To win we have to play as a team and likewise we got to work together if we are to succeed in this venture," said the Sri Lankan skipper Marvan Atapattu. Sanath Jayasuriya whose hometown Matara was one of the worse-hit areas, was a worried man. Though he played cricket on the beach with his friends, it was all gone now. His mother and thousands more were affected and said that it is time that every responsible citizen answered the call of the people. The Disaster Assistance Fund initially will be on a short and long term basis. The short term plan will consist four refugee camps in Dambulla, Matara, Galle and Badulla. These camps will accommodate displaced people from Trincomalee, Matara, Galle, Batticaloa and Ampara. The long term plan consist of cricket aid villages in the North, South, East and West. Each village will have a commercial centre, a religious centre and a children's park. Each village will have 50 houses each built at a cost of Rs. 500,000.00. One thousand orphans from the tsunami hit areas will also benefit from the project. They will be financed up to the age of 18 years. To achieve these short and long term plans which requires Rs. 200 million, Sri Lanka Cricket has initiated a fund raising campaign headed by its immediate past president Thilanga Sumathipala. It includes sending players abroad as Sri Lankan Ambassadors who could obtain pledges of aid from International donors and cricket fans. Providing the corporate sector an opportunity to visit the refugee camps guided by cricketers and providing them with photo ops etc and requesting for sponsorship. Playing of a charity cricket tournament, which will be telecast live around the World. Sale of merchandising material (caps, autographed bats etc.) to members of cricket clubs and cricket fans. Creation of a web page, which gives details of Sri Lanka Cricket programmes and merchandising material. |
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