Over 59,000 displaced families resettled so far: Lanka

by lalith | August 21, 2009 at 08:52 am

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Colombo: Sri Lanka has resettled more than 59,600 families displaced during the three decade civil war in the country, a senior minister has said.

The government has resettled 59,608 displaced families in Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Ampara in eastern Sri Lanka and Mannar and Jaffna Divisional Secretariat divisions in the northern region during the past few months, Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services Minister Rishad Bathiudeen has said.

According to government figures, 35,766 families have been resettled in Batticaloa and 51 families in Ampara while the government helped in rehabilitation of 22,068 families in Trincomalee division in the island nation's southern regions.

In the north, 669 families in Mannar and 1,054 families in Jaffna divisions have been resettled, the minister said here yesterday.

The official figure of those displaced is 288938 out of which, 224,394 are housed in relief villages in the Vavunia District.

IDPs are being resettled at a steady pace. However, demining and construction or repairs to buildings have been hampered by the monsoonal rains which struck the Northern area recently.

Plans are being drawn by Sri Lanka Army to deploy more engineering troops to speed up de-mining process in the Northern province to accelerate the resettlement process of IDPs residing in the welfare villages.