Food aid from US govt.

US Ambassador Patricia A. Butenis announced a donation from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) of US $ 5.5 million (Rs.610.5 million) of food aid to support the return of people displaced by the conflict in the North during a ceremony with Minister of Economic Development and Special Advisor to the President Basil Rajapaksa. Consisting of 6,740 metic tons of wheat flour, pulses and vegetable oil, USAID's donation will support the United Nations World Food Program to fulfil the essential food needs of 300,000 people.

With this latest donation, USAID, the development agency of the US government has provided over US $ 75 million (Rs.8.32 billion) of food aid from 2008 to 2010. Recognising the US government's support to assist displaced people, Minister Rajapaksa received a symbolic handing over of emergency food aid from Ambassador Butenis during the ceremony at the Presidential Secretariat.

"USAID remains the largest and most consistent food aid donor to Sri Lanka and we are happy to support the food needs of 300,000 returnees" stated the US Ambassador Butenis. "None of us can forget the enormous challenges that Sri Lanka faced at the end of the war and how far the country has come since then in meeting these overwhelming physical needs. the Sri Lankan Government has every right to be proud of its progress in resettlement and we are also proud to have contributed to this massive effort," she said.