The United States has provided $ 1.1 million through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as emergency assistance for the flood hit areas.
The latest batch of U.S aid to Sri Lankans affected by the floods was handed over to the Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa by U.S. Ambassador for Sri Lanka Patricia A. Butenis, yesterday.
The stock, includes 600 rolls of plastic sheeting and 1,000 mosquito nets, will be immediately distributed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to 6,000 families in flooded areas in the North and East to shelter them and help protect them from disease.
Ambassador Butenis said, “The Government of Sri Lanka has taken significant steps to meet the needs of these families - providing food assistance in camps, dispatching health staff to provide care and prevent outbreaks of disease, and evacuating families in marooned villages, among numerous other initiatives. I applaud these efforts.
The U.S. Government has done its part to contribute to this cause”.
She said that over 12.000 families have received emergency relief supplies, such as mats, soap, mosquito coils and bed sheets. “ USAID has also provided emergency food assistance to families, dispatched boats to inundated areas to evacuate people and transport relief supplies, and supported volunteers tor cord he names and numbers of people affected”, she said.
The stocks will be distributed among the affected people in flood hit Mannar, Traincomalee, Vavuniya, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.