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Tens of thousands of tsunami victims
still surviving in tents and other
temporary shelters were thrown into
more agony when heavy rain flooded
their makeshift camps.

Displaced families to receive relief coupons for two more months

Friday, April 1, 2005, 2:20 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Apr 01, Colombo: The Office of the Commissioner General of Essential Services says the government has decided to issue relief coupons to tsunami victims for two additional months.

Families already receiving coupons will be eligible to claim further assistance in this form, sources said.

At present, the Office of the Commissioner General has issued relief coupons at the rate of 32 per family for a period of four months. As announced by the government, 954,110 displaced families will now be given relief for six months. The issue of coupons, which began in February, will continue until July.

The cost of the relief, Rs. 3.6 billion per month, is being borne by the government. The total amount to be spent on relief coupons will be around Rs. 22.6 billion, sources said.

This includes a coupon for Rs. 375 per month per person. From this, one is able to get Rs. 200 in cash. The balance comes in the form of food items.

Khalid

Warning : landslides with monsoon!

Peradeniya University Geologists warned a possibility of more landslides in the central hilly areas during the monsoon period due to the shaken plates of earth as a result of the spate of earthquakes erupted in Sumatra in the recent past.

Prof. Kapila Dahanayake of the Peradeniya University told the Sunday Observer that certain parts of the country, specially the central hill have experienced tremors due to earthquakes in Sumatra.

He warns people to be cautious during the monsoon period as more cracks and fractures may have occurred in the central hills. "Therefore these areas are more vulnerable to landslides", he said. When asked how to identify signs of impending landslides, he said that people should immediately evacuate if they witness any unusual muddy and warm water, falling of nuts from coconut or other trees, turning of lamp and telephone posts to one side, and also cracks in the walls of houses.

Prof. Dahanayake also noted that so far there is no equipment in the world to exactly say the date, time and the place where an earthquake will occur. Present technology can only predict an earthquake, he added.

Members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Natural Disaster together with geologists on Thursday visited an area in Kandy which has earlier experienced an earthquake. Pahatha Hewahata Divisional Secretary Wimala Makuldeniya said that 101 families are living in a vulnerable area for earthquakes. She said that 31 families are living in the most vulnerable area in Waldabala which experienced a landslide in 1996.

When asked why the authorities have not taken steps to evacuate them, she said "earlier these people were given lands in Huruluwewa and Giradurukotte. All of them went there but after sometime many of them returned after selling those lands".

Chairman of the Select Committee Mahinda Samarasinghe MP said that the Select Committee report will propose to establish a National Centre to monitor natural disasters with the coordination of the Meteorological Department, Peradeniya University and Geological Survey and Mines Bureau.

Chairman Samarasinghe also said that new equipment should be acquired with foreign assistance and existing equipment maintained deploying trained personnel. Sighting an example he said that some equipment in the Peradeniya University has been malfunctioning during the last eight months due to the dearth of trained technicians to repair them. He said that the Select Committee report will be completed by the end of May. An Interim report will be released in April for public debate.

Khalid