Army will help rebuilding - Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa, MP

Like our Army saved the Tamil people from terrorism they will also rebuild their settlements with irrigation tanks , irrigation ducts and roads to a better standard than they ever existed before said Uthuru Vasanthaya Project Chairman and Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa, MP at a ceremony handing over 101 heavy construction equipment to the Army to rebuild the Northern Province infrastructure easing the rapid development and resettlement of IDP's in welfare centres.

The equipment imported from the People's Republic of China under the sponsorship of the Ambassador for the People's Republic of China Yang Xiuping also marked the 60th anniversary of China. The Galle Face Green where the ceremony was held was decked with the yellow star spangled red flags of China. Read more ...

Library facilities for doctors serving IDPs

Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry has made arrangements to provide library facilities to doctors who are now serving the IDPs. The Ministry took this decision after considering their educational requirements, Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry spokesman said.

He said there are around 85 doctors attending on IDPs and most of them are getting ready to sit for their post graduate examinations. Therefore they need to visit Colombo to use libraries. It is very difficult for them to travel to Colombo on a regular basis and there are no library facilities close to their present locations. Read more ...

Sri Lanka: Japan helps welfare centres

The Japanese government will provide assistance for the provision of drinking water supply equipment and a septate treatment plant to welfare centres for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North.

Japanese Ambassador Kunio Takahashi handed over the relevant Note Verbal to Water Supply and Drainage Minister A.L.M. Athaullah.

The Project which has materialized consequent to a request made by the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWS&DB) to the Japanese Embassy on the instruction of Minister A.L.M. Athaullah, will meet immediate requirements of safe drinking water and improvement of sanitation in welfare centres. Read more...

Sri Lanka releases university students from welfare camps

Sri Lankan authorities have released the university students, living in welfare camps, because they could not pursue their studies in the camps, the Media Center for National Security said today.

The students have been released on Sunday to the transit camps in the University attached hostels of Jaffna University in Kainadi. Some students were handed over to the Vice Chancellor of University of Jaffna, Nagalingam Shammugalingum, and some others to their nearest kin. Read more ...

President opens EU reconstructed Vakarai school in Eastern Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa today ceremoniously opened the reconstructed Vakarai Maha Vidyalaya in Batticaloa District of Eastern Sri Lanka which has been reconstructed with European Union funds.

The school damaged by the 2004 tsunami and the ethnic conflict has been reconstructed under the government's Eastern Awakening Program (Nagenahira Nawodaya) at a cost of Rs. 300 million.

The reconstruction was carried out with the collaboration of the Ministry of Education through its implementing partner, the International Organization for Migration. Read more ...

UN Population Fund opens family health clinics in Manik Farm

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, in collaboration with the Family Health Bureau of the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition and the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka (FPASL), opened five family health clinics in five zones of the Manik Farm camp on 18th September at a ceremony attended by UNFPA Representative, Director of Family Health Bureau, Executive Director of FPASL and other health ministry officials.

The family health clinics will provide antenatal and postnatal exams, voluntary family planning, emergency deliveries by skilled birth attendants and psychosocial counselling, among other services. With an estimated 5,000 pregnant women in the camps, out of whom 400 will give birth within the next 4 weeks, the family health clinics will play a critical role in safeguarding the health of these women. Read more ...

Sri Lanka Fisheries Ministry to introduce non conventional projects to acquire more aquatic resources in the North

The Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Ministry of Sri Lanka is to launch non traditional marine resource development projects under the "Uthuru Vasanthaya" accelerated development drive in the North.

The Ministry plans to undertake four different projects for this purpose at a cost of Rs. 800 million.

The projects aim to uplift the livelihood of the fishermen and get them adapted to fishing activities on new marine resources which are valued high in the foreign markets, sources added. Read more ...