No official level discussion on donor conference yet: Official

By Ajith Siriwardana   

Amidst various speculations on a donor conference to raise funds for rebuilding after the Ditwah cyclone, Commissioner-General of Essential Services Prabath Chandrakeerthi said yesterday there has been no official level discussion on calling a donor conference as yet.   

He told a news conference at the Government Information Department that summoning a donor conference is a complex process and that Sri Lanka must find a particular country to sponsor the conference.   

Responding to a question about the donor conference, he said Sri Lanka has only the damage assessment of the World Bank and that a post-damage assessment is required before a donor conference be summoned.   

He said a post-damage assessment is being done by the Defence Ministry through the Disaster Management Centre (DMC).   

“If Sri Lanka wants to call for a donor conference, we can go ahead once the post-damage assessment is completed,” he said adding that “We need to find a country to sponsor it. We need to have a prior discussion on how we will receive funds before the donor conference,”   

The government announced earlier that an international donor conference will be called after the damage assessment of the World Bank is completed.