Asia

Asia

Sri Lanka sends army to help flood victims

14 January 2011 02:00 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Sri Lanka launched a massive rescue operation on Thursday to assist hundreds of thousands of people displaced by floods, which have killed at least 24 people in the central and north eastern areas of the island, APA reports quoting ft.com website.
Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, spokesman for the Sri Lankan defence ministry, said the army and navy had deployed thousands of troops help those forced from their homes by the heavy unseasonal rains.
â€œAt the moment I can confirm that 24 people have died due to the flooding but the numbers could go upâ€¦we are working around the clock to help our people,â€ he told the Financial Times.
The devastation caused by the flooding risks jeopardising the political and economic recovery that followed the governmentâ€™s defeat of the Tamil Tigers in May 2009, which ended a 26-year-long civil war.
The areas worst affected â€“ the north and east of the Indian Ocean island â€“ are the ones that used to be under the Tigersâ€™ control and which have suffered nearly three decades of under-investment during the war.
Sri Lankaâ€™s growth rate has rebounded since the end of the civil war, with annual growth in gross domestic product expected to reach 7.5-8 per cent this year, compared with 3.5 per cent in 2009.
Local stocks have soared, with the all-share index on Colomboâ€™s stock exchange up from below 3,000 after the war to above 7,000 on Thursday, driven by a booming tourism industry.
Tourism revenues jumped 64.3 per cent in 2010, generating a record $501.5m in the first 11 months of the year, as the number of tourist arrivals for 2010 rose to a high of 654,476, up 46 per cent, according to official data.
The Sri Lankan government said on Thursday it had provided temporary shelters and was distributing warm meals, medicines and dry clothes. At least 325,000 people have been forced from their homes by the waters, according to the national Disaster Management Centre.
A member of Sri Lankaâ€™s minority Muslim community told the BBC Tamil language service there was a shortage of food for children in Ampara, one of the cities wrecked by mudslides and rain.
â€œIn the morning we were forced to divide a single breakfast food parcel into four and give it to our four children,â€ said the unnamed person. â€œWe have not got any help from the government. But the local people â€“ especially the rich â€“ have come forward and helped us. We are only getting something to eat because of their generosity.â€
The BBC also reported that in some remote areas there was no sign of any assistance having been provided. The World Food Programme said it would provide 55m Sri Lankan rupees ($0.5m) worth of food to help flood victims.
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