Government thinking of giving tsunami victims money to buy land

Sri Lanka government says it is thinking of giving tsunami victims money to buy land to rebuild their homes, eight months after the tsunami.





Sri Lanka government says it is thinking of giving tsunami victims money to buy land to rebuild their homes, eight months after the tsunami. Sri Lanka’s central tsunami reconstruction agency TAFREN said on Friday, the government is facing difficulties acquiring land for tsunami displaced.

“We have tried to get government land but that alone does not meet requirement. So we are looking at other innovative means to acquire land,” said TAFREN chairman, Mano Tittawella, at the launch of a website on tsunami assistance.

According to TAFREN, only “around 50 percent of (land) acquisitions are progressing.

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The tsunami destroyed over 77,000 homes in Sri Lanka but relocation became a problem when new laws outlawed rebuilding in government designated buffer zones.

A majority of the destroyed houses – around 40,000 to 45,000 units, according to TAFREN - were in the 100 m and 200 m buffer zones along the island’s coast.

This means a majority of tsunami victims cannot rebuild their