Sri Lanka’s tsunami affected areas get schools from United States

May 23, 2007 (LBO) – The United States has subcontracted a Sri Lankan firm to construct five schools in the south of the island a week after it awarded a contract to build four schools in the east, the US embassy in Colombo said. Access also holds the contract for the fishing harbors element of the US aid program, the embassy said.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has contracted a 50 million dollar tsunami reconstruction program to CH2M Hill, a US firm which subcontracted 5.4 million dollars of work to Access Engineering of Sri Lanka.

I’m very excited about this project, Ambassador Blake was quoted as saying in a statement.

Training young people in vocational trades promises to boost both family income and the health of the southern coastal economy.

The schools will teach trades in high demand by the Sri Lankan workforce, such as masonry, plumbing, welding and carpentry in Hikkaduwa, apparel in Koggala, plumbing and appliance repair in Talalla, small engines in Tangalle, and hotel skills in Ahangama.

The school in Ahangama is designed to be an environmentally-friendly green school certified by the US-based Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Envir