Sri Lanka wants six months to complete resettlement

2012-04-02

OLOMBO, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government said Monday it needs another six months to complete the resettlement of the war-displaced families in the northern part of the country.

Resettlement Minister Gunaratne Weerakoon told Xinhua that the construction of permanent houses for some 1,700 families living in a camp for the displaced in Vavuniya in the north has already begun.

"We will need at least six months to fully complete the resettlement process. Last month we completed 206 houses and we have begun constructing another 200 houses and that should be completed in three months," the minister said.

A cyclone which slammed into the "Menik Farm" camp for the war displaced over the weekend razed to the ground several temporary shelters mostly made of wood and tin sheets.

Families living in the camp vented their anger at a minister when he visited the camp site on Sunday.

The displaced people demanded that they be immediately resettled in permanent homes as the lives of their children were at risk if there is another storm.

"We cannot control nature. The camp was badly affected by the cyclone but we have begun reconstructing the damaged shelters and have also given dry rations to the families. We understand their plight but we need more time to move them to permanent homes," Weerakoon said.

He said that the Sri Lankan army is assisting the government in building permanent homes for the displaced people in areas where de-mining has been completed in the north of the country.

Over 350,000 people were housed at the "Menik Farm" camp for the war displaced soon after the war between Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan military came to an end three years ago.