August 17, Colombo (LNW): The Ministry of Defence has instructed District Secretaries to speed up the distribution of financial assistance allocated for communities affected by Cyclone Ditwah, following concerns over the slow utilisation of funds earmarked for reconstruction and rehabilitation.
Treasury figures cited in the state-owned Silumina indicate that the National Disaster Relief Services Centre released Rs. 86.7 billion between January and July this year for compensation, rebuilding infrastructure and supporting people affected by floods and landslides.
However, only Rs. 26.4 billion, or around 30 per cent of the allocation, had been spent by the end of the period.
This leaves approximately Rs. 60.3 billion yet to be utilised, prompting the authorities to call for immediate action to ensure assistance reaches affected families and reconstruction projects move forward.
In a letter issued on August 12, the Additional Secretary of the Disaster Management Division urged District Secretaries to take steps to ensure the outstanding funds are distributed to eligible beneficiaries without further delays.
Resettlement programmes appear to be facing an even greater implementation gap. Of the Rs. 1.05 billion set aside to relocate families displaced by the disaster, only Rs. 190 million had been utilised by 31 July, representing about 18 per cent of the allocation. A further Rs. 868 million remained unspent.
Officials have consequently called for faster progress on housing and resettlement schemes, as well as the restoration of damaged infrastructure. A further Rs. 1.94 billion is also expected to be allocated for ongoing recovery work.
Immediate relief operations, meanwhile, have recorded considerably higher utilisation. Around 85 per cent of the Rs. 7.6 billion released for urgent assistance had reached disaster-affected communities by the end of July.
Authorities have stressed that the timely use of available funds will be crucial to helping displaced families rebuild their lives, restoring essential services and repairing infrastructure in areas severely affected by Cyclone Ditwah.