January 24, 2005

Sri Lankan politicians unite to launch $3.5B rebuilding program

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA

In a rare show of unity, bitterly divided government and opposition leaders have jointly launched a $3.5 billion (U.S.) plan to rebuild tsunami-devastated Sri Lanka.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga laid a foundation stone last Wednesday for the first of more than 6,000 new homes being built as part of a plan to resettle thousands of families in palm-fringed, southeastern Hambantota district — one of many areas battered by the Dec. 26 tsunami.

Thousands of villagers, some shielding themselves from the blazing midday sun with black umbrellas, watched the ceremony.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and other officials stood shoulder-to-shoulder with opposition lawmakers as they observed two minutes of silence for the more than 30,000 people in Sri Lanka who died in the disaster.

The country’s political leaders squabble over almost everything, including how the government’s civil war with the Tamil Tiger rebels — currently in a fragile ceasefire — should be permanently resolved, but the tsunami seems to have bridged political differences, at least momentarily.

The giant waves killed about 4,500 people in Hambantota, and nearly 1,000 remain missing.

More than 4,000 houses were completely or partially destroyed.

Kumaratunga’s national reconstruction program involves building 62 towns with modern housing, parks, bus terminals and other facilities, according to an outline of the plan.

The Associated Press

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