Govt. allocates $ 11 million to complete resettlement

The Government is allocating 11 million US dollars to complete the resettlement of the last 3110 internally displaced families, two years after a brutal three decade conflict came to an end, a Minister said yesterday.

Accordingly 1687 families will be relocated in the Mullaitivu District in the north along with 166 families in the Mannar District with the assistance of the security forces in the north and east.

An additional 1272 families will be resettled in Muttur in the Trincomalee District within the eastern province.

Each family will be provided a basic house with a permanent toilet in addition to common dug wells and other facilities, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told media.

“We had resettled 97 per cent of the internally displaced by October 2011 and these are the last families that need to be sent back home,” he said adding that the government has allocated Rs. 1.3 billion (about $ 11 million) for the project.

At the end of the conflict there were around 300 000 internally displaced people in Sri Lanka living in government run welfare centres.

Following the completion of resettlement the government has announced plans to close the Resettlement Ministry in January as its mandate is effectively over.

However non-governmental organizations say that more needs to be done to assure livelihoods for the resettled people.  (UJ)