19 August 2010 05:43 am
The Sri Lankan government says although it has differences with the UN on certain issues, as a member of the world body, it wants to work together in order to achieve permanent peace.
Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, speaking at the World humanitarian Day event held at the UN compound in Colombo today, thanked the UN for the humanitarian support it gave Sri Lanka following the war.
“I don’t think we could have achieved what we have achieved at this moment without the help of all humanitarian workers and the UN organization. On behalf of the government and the people of Sri Lanka I would like to thank the UN country office especially the country director and all the other country heads in the UN family and all the donors who helped through UN and directly to the Sri Lanka government and the people of Sri Lanka,” he said.
He also noted that there were a lot of arguments with the UN about why the government had built semi permanent houses for IDPs. He says the rumor was that the government was going to keep the IDPs there for years but finally every body now understands what the government was really trying to do.
Also speaking here the UN Country Representative Neil Buhne noted that through a broad partnership in support of Sri Lankan national efforts, hundreds and thousands who had to flee from fighting to safety were given humanitarian assistance.
“Difficult and hard work was done by Sri Lankan’s, there were many challenges, many difficult times, times when people became frustrated. Ultimately through hard work, the corner was turned and people regained the capacity to start rebuilding their lives. Here in Sri Lanka, We look forward to supporting you now to rebuild and recover, and lay a firm foundation for safe lives free from need for all Sri Lankans,” he said. (Daily Mirror online)