Canada says Sri Lanka needs more tsunami recovery help at grassroots level

April 24, 2007 (LBO) – More post-tsunami recovery work is needed in Sri Lanka especially in the north and east of the island, at a community level, a donor agency has said. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has been working with local community based organizations and non-governmental organizations, through a 300 million rupee fund.

CIDA's Local Tsunami Recovery Facility (LTRF) focuses on supporting local initiatives that look into the remaining gaps of the tsunami rebuilding process.

LTRF is CIDA’s effort to build local communities through local partners," Calvin Piggott the first secretary of the Canadian High Commission in Colombo told reporters.

"This is a medium to long-term approach that spans four years till March 2009.

The LTRF programme is a part of the 6.8 billion rupee Canadian investment in Sri Lanka for long-term tsunami reconstruction.

The program gives technical assistance and funds to Sri Lankan NGOs and institutions to carry out grassroots livelihood development projects.

The fund had received 230 proposals but only 33 have been approved.

Of this only 18 have started in Colombo, Hambantota