For each flood affected house Rs. 10,000 allowance will be given, said Sagala Ratnayake, Senior Adviser to the President on National Security and Head of the Presidential Task Force.
He informed that this money will be given for house cleaning and after getting the assessment reports of all the houses and buildings partially or fully damaged due to the calamity, the next steps will be taken immediately.
Sagala Ratnayake mentioned this when he made an observation visit yesterday (07) to find out the interests of the people of Kolanna, which was affected by the inclement weather.
Sagala Ratnayake visited the houses of flood affected people and also visited the mobile medical camp held at Kolannava Sri Samputharaja Purana Vihara on behalf of the affected people.
After that, he also participated in a discussion held at the Kolannawa Divisional Secretariat to examine the progress and future activities of the government’s program to provide relief to the affected people.
Speaking to the media after that, Sagala Ratnayake said,
After discussion with the Divisional Secretaries, it was decided to give an immediate compensation of Rs 10,000 to each flood-affected house. Also, steps are expected to identify the houses that have suffered partial or complete damage and provide further compensation to those families.
According to the 2019 circular, in case of flood calamity, compensation was provided only to the people who were in the Interim Camp. But we have changed the circular and have taken steps to provide ten thousand rupees compensation to every flood affected house. Accordingly, those people can go back to their homes and continue the house cleaning work.
According to the President’s instructions, all the houses that were completely damaged by the disaster have been constructed with the contribution of the army at the government’s expense.
Meanwhile, a program to provide medicines to people in need has been launched. After the flood recedes, people usually suffer from epidemics. Especially young children and the elderly should be protected from such diseases.
Also, we are at risk of dengue. We have prepared a plan to deal with it. Efforts have been made to provide relief to the affected people in association with the Navy, Red Cross Society and the nearby people who were not affected by the disaster. Efforts are being made to bring the wells back into use.
Medical camps are being conducted to restore the health of the people in the disaster affected areas. Foreign medical teams are also involved in conducting medical camps. Many medical treatment centers are being run through Divisional Secretariats.
Army medical teams have also been prepared to improve the health of the affected population. The President continues to pay attention to the people of all regions affected by the calamity. The President has directed to provide all necessary relief to the officers.
Also, a suitable plan is being studied to prevent recurrence of such floods. It is known that such floods have occurred due to unauthorized constructions and land filling.
Therefore, it is also expected to get Cabinet approval to stop unauthorized construction and land filling works to control floods.
Attention has also been given to creating a new town for the people on both banks of the Kelani River. For that, it is planned to build a city with all facilities like hospitals, schools, apartments.
Government institutions like IDH Hospital, EPO Depot are located in this area. Therefore, it is expected to discuss with the people of the area about the creation of a new city and implement the future activities.
Here we expect to implement the right program with everyone’s consent. The scheme is expected to be successful within the next ten years.” He said.
Member of Parliament Premanath C. Tolawatta, President Union Director General Saman Ratnapriya and former members of Kolannawa Pradeshiya Sabha and other political representatives and government officials attended the event.
