RW ready to advise the government on disaster management: Thalatha

By Yohan Perera   

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe is ready to provide advise on disaster management to the government if needed but neither him nor others in the UNP  intend to take up any position, United National Party (UNP) General Secretary Thalatha Athukorala said yesterday.   

“Former President Wickremesinghe is man of ability and full of knowledge. He is willing to help the government on managing disasters. Even we can help as we have learnt from our leader,” she told a media briefing.   

“The government has not sought the assistance of the opposition to this date despite offers.” she added.   

The UNP General Secretary also questioned the decision made by the government to pay Rs 10 million to those who lost both their houses and land. “Will it be possible to find people who have lost both the land and the house in a disaster such as what happened in November this year?” he said.   

She also said the present government had failed to implement the national disaster management plan which was converted into a book by the current secretary of the ministry of defence in June this year. “The plan which has been presented in this book is the same which was put out by Former President Wickremesinghe in 2023. The plan outlines how to deal with various disasters such as tsunami, earth quakes, landslides and movements and sudden changes in the sea around the island. These are events which have been identified as disasters in the National Disaster Management Act 2005. The disaster management plan provides guidelines as to how to work with various state institutions and others including non-governmental organisations,” she said.