The government is proceeding with arrangements to re-settle at least another 50,000 IDPs from Vavuniya relief camps, in the next two weeks.

The Vavuniya Government Agent Mrs. P.S.M. Charles said arrangements are being made through the relevant GAs to resettle these IDPs in their former places of residence in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.

All steps are being taken to resettle these people before any floods caused by the onset of the next monsoon rains. The numbers resettled could be even higher as more facilities are made available for resettlement by government and other agencies carrying out this work, she said.

The sole aim of the President and the Government to see all the persons staying in the transitional centers return to their original residences at the earliest', said Senior Presidential Advisor and MP, Basil Rajapaksa at a recent progress review committee meeting in the North.

Flood protection

With regard to preparedness for floods, Disaster Management & Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told Parliament last week that substantial progress had been made in preventing and/or mitigating the risk of flooding in the camps in the Menik Farm area. In accordance with decisions taken to date the Disaster Management Centre’s Disaster Risk Management programme assisted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will bear the costs of developing contour maps for all IDP zones while the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will support initiatives related to drainage system development.

The project will be implemented in two stages to minimize the delays that could occur between the planning and implementation periods. Under the first phase, the drainage systems of the zones 01, 03 and 04 will be developed. The Sri Lanka Reclamation and Development Corporation has undertaken the construction of drains in Zones 1 and 3. The local road development division (RDD) is working in zone 4. Rainwater disposal system is scheduled to be completed by 15 September.

The DMC has undertaken to develop the drainage system in Zone 02 in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) based the contour maps developed by the Survey Department. At present, this initiative is ongoing to construct the system in Zone 2. I have received reports to the effect that Over 50% of the work is completed.

Under the second phase of the project, the drainage systems of zones 05, 06A, 6B, Dharmapuram, Veerapuram and Sunethipuram will be developed. The different phases of the project were designed considering the potential severity of the drainage issue and the size of the population living in respective zones. The zones with large populations and potentially severe drainage issues were included in the first phase of the project. Based on the reports I have received we have ever confidence that a much improved rainwater disposal system will be available by 15 September.