Detailed report to local, foreign organisations providing relief

Detailed report to local, foreign organisations providing relief

by Uditha Kumarasinghe
Article in the Daily News in Colombo:

The Samurdhi and Poverty Alleviation Ministry has decided to present a detailed report to the Government to be submitted to local and foreign organisations who have pledged their assistance to provide relief to the people displaced by tsunami disaster.

The report will stress on the key areas where aid and relief should be granted and also highlighting the quantum of aid to be granted for specific areas, Samurdhi and Poverty Alleviation Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi told the Daily News.

The Minister has taken this decision following a discussion with Ports, Civil Aviation and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera held at Cultural Centre, Nupe Matara last week.

A special discussion to educate the Galle district Samurdhi Managers and Samurdhi Development Officers (SDOs) on this program will be held at Galle District Secretariat under the patronage of Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi on January 5 at 10.00am. The Samurdhi Authority requests all SDOs and Samurdhi Managers to attend this discussion.

The Minister has already given instructions to the Ministry officials to prepare a detailed report on the number of deaths, properties damaged and source of income lost in each affected families. In order to coordinate these activities, a Samurdhi Coordinating Centre will be established in each affected Grama Niladari division. One Samurdhi Manager and three SDOs have been appointed from the unaffected areas to gather information on the displaced families.

The Minister has also given instructions to the officials to supply labour to remove the debris of the destroyed homes with the consent of the residents.

Meanwhile, the SDOs and Samurdhi Managers will also conduct a survey on all state and private sector properties destroyed by tidal waves.

In addition,a Samurdhi Manager will be appointed for each affected district to collect data on the death of Samurdhi officers and the properties damaged of Samurdhi officers by the tsunami disaster. The Minister has already appointed a Samurdhi Manager to the Matara district for this purpose.

In addition to this survey, the Ministry has appointed one Samurdhi Manager and three SDOs to coordinate the welfare activities of the camps where the displaced people are temporarily sheltered. An additional woman SDO has also been appointed to look into the special needs of women in these camps and also the children who have lost their parents.

This woman SDO will also coordinate to provide necessary labour to prepare meals and provide health and other sanitary facilities to the displaced families, she said.