Steps taken to assess flood damage

by Ranil Wijayapala

Steps have been taken to assess the damage caused due to floods through District Secretaries and Divisional Secretaries as all those displaced by floods have been resettled, Disaster Relief Minister A.H.M. Fowzie told the Sunday Observer yesterday.

Minister Fowzie said that medical camps are being conducted in flood affected areas to assist flood victims.

He said the Ministry is providing relief for people affected by floods even after they return to their homes as their livelihood had been affected.

Minister Fowzie said although the Government had allocated Rs.97 million, around Rs.50 million was spent to provide relief for people as many philanthropists and INGOs such as the World Food Programme provided meals for those affected.

He said that the rains came at an unexpected time when the Ministry was getting ready to conduct meetings to speed up the clearing of drains and canals to avoid floods during the rainy season.

“As soon as I took office, we conducted many discussions to have short and long term plans to be ready for the floods.

We expected rains after May 20 but it came much earlier when we were getting ready to face the situation”, the Minister said.

He said that steps have also been taken to clean all canals and drains on the directive of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to face future floods.