Disaster Centres to be set up for displaced people

5 June 2017 05:22 pm

Disaster Centres with all facilities would be set-up throughout the country to shelter people who have to evacuate from their houses in disaster situations such as flood or landslides, Disaster Management Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said today.

He said that three such centres were being constructed in the Badulla, Gampaha and Kegalle districts with the assistance of the Asian Development Fund.

The Minister said people who were usually sheltered in temples and schools in disaster situations could in future, be sheltered in disaster centres.

He said a long term programme should be implemented to address natural disasters in the country and added that a team of experts from the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) would arrive in the country for this purpose, at the end of this month.

He said several factors such as population increase and clearing of hilly areas for cash crops had aggravated the recent natural disasters in the country. (By Ajith Siriwardana)