UN Official pledges assistance for resettlement of old IDPs
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- Published on Friday, 03 August 2012 15:19
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Rehabilitation, resettlement and post-conflict economic development in the North have been commenced by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The Director of the Coordination and Response Division of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs John Ging who was in Sri Lanka on a three-day official visit and made an extensive tour of the Northern and Eastern Provinces has commended the government activities in the two provinces when he held discussions with the Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa at his Ministry.
John Ging has said that other countries with similar problems can learn a lot from Sri Lanka on these issues as Sri Lanka’s progress is tremendous compared with many countries with similar problems he had travelled to. He has said that people in the Northern and Eastern Provinces are enjoying normalcy and people are benefiting from the peace and stability in the country. He has told Minister Rajapaksa that Sri Lanka should share its experience with other countries.
The Minister has told the UN officials that Sri Lanka had been able to complete most of the rehabilitation and reconstruction projects successfully because of the help given by the international community, including UN agencies and INGOS as well as the local institutions and people.
Minister Rajapaksa has explained that Sri Lanka successfully resettled the people displaced during the last phase of the war but now the problem is with the people displaced during the earlier periods of the conflict as they have not been given the facilities as for the new IDPs.
The Minister has stressed the problem of the old IDPs must be solved and Sri Lanka would need the assistance of international agencies for same.
The UN official has assured that the OCHA will provide assistance to resettle old and new alike. He has further remarked that Sri Lanka's economy is growing rapidly and tourism is booming and the country has achieved all the progress within a short time. He has said that the most important task for Sri Lanka now is to rebuild the confidence among the international community about the country, and he has assured that the OCHA will help Sri Lanka to achieve this end. (niz)
