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No delay in utilization of Japan's bilateral tsunami aid |
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Thursday, 08 December 2005 |
A newspaper report appeared in some Sri Lanka daily newspapers on 6th December, 2005 quoting an AFP report on a news item of Japanese newspaper "The Asahi Shimbun" stating that 70% of the USD 240 million bilateral aid given to Indonesia, the Maldives and Sri Lanka by the Japanese Government after tsunami still remains unused nearly a year later, states a Finance Ministry press release. The Ministry of Finance and Planning wishes to clarify the newspaper statement in respect of the USD 80 million Grant offered to Sri Lanka by the Government of Japan, writes Daily News 081205 at http://www.dailynews.lk/
Forwarded by Budhi Mulyawan 091205.
In the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, the Japanese Government dispatched disaster relief medical teams and provided emergency relief equipment worth USD 296,000 and a cash grant of USD 1 million to assist the recovery of tsunami affected people in Sri Lanka.
Thereafter the Japanese Government made available a Grant of USD 240 million to tsunami affected countries in the region as emergency relief. Sri Lanka was offered USD 80 million for the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Relief Activities.
Of this amount USD 17 million has already been disbursed and contracts signed for a further USD 43 million to procure goods and services for reconstruction and relief activities in the tsunami affected areas making the total amount utilized so far up to US$ 70 million or 87% of the Grant. Contracts for the balance USD 20 million are to be signed before the end of this year.
The Japanese Embassy in Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Finance and Planning developed a mechanism to expedite and ensure a participatory, transparent, equitable and effective distribution of the Grant Aid of USD 80 million to all areas affected by the tsunami.
Within a short span of time the entire Grant was committed for various emergency relief activities such as provision of water, sanitation facilities and electricity to displaced camps, replacement and repair of fisher boats and mobile cold storage facilities for fishing industry, medical equipment and mobile diagnostic units, heavy equipment and spares to rehabilitate unused machinery for reconstruction activity, reconstruction of schools, bridges and causeways, police stations, fisheries harbors damaged by the tsunami and housing and related infrastructure. With the assistance of Japanese Government agencies immediate procurement and construction activities were initiated.
Goods procured for relief activity for displaced persons such as Power Generators, Gully Suckers and High Pressure Cleaning Machines, Water Bowsers and Storage Tanks, Heavy Equipment and Spares, Boats and Fishing Gear, Mobile Ice Plants and Cold Storages, and Medical Equipment have already been handed over to the respective line ministries for distribution.
Cooling Trucks, Multi Day Boats, Fishery Training Vessels, Pipes and Accessories for water supply, Mobile Diagnostic Units and Double Cabs for AGA's Officers in tsunami affected areas have already been contracted and delivery expected soon.
Contracts have also been concluded for the reconstruction of most of the destroyed facilities including Six Police Stations, Ten Schools, Two Stabilization Ponds, Two Fishery Harbours, Five Bridges and Four Causeways, Aqueduct for water distribution and a Friendship Village with 240 houses and related infrastructure in Trincomalee District where reconstruction have already commenced in most and all projects expected to be completed by mid to late 2006.
Contracts are expected to be concluded before the end of the year for the reconstruction of balance projects identified including a police station, three schools, a friendship village with 150 houses in Ampara and infrastructure development for a housing project for 500 houses in Trincomalee in collaboration with international NGOs.
All reconstruction activities are targeted to be completed before October 2006, except for one large school which is expected to be completed by mid 2007.
A team of Japanese Members of Parliament who toured the tsunami affected countries have commented that Sri Lanka stands far ahead of the other countries in the reconstruction of the tsunami affected areas.
The Government of Japan has granted further assistance to Sri Lanka by way of a concessionary loan of USD 100 million to assist in the recovery of socio economic activities which completely disrupted the normal functioning of the tsunami affected areas and bringing the essential infrastructure functions and business activities including fisheries and tourism industries back to normalcy.
Contracts have been singed to utilize almost 80% of these loan funds with about 50% of the funds already been disbursed.
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