Providing Temporary Income to Tsunami-Affected Poor People in Sri Lanka

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (11 October 2005) - ADB has approved a US$2 million grant from its Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), financed by the Government of Japan, to help restore income-generating opportunities to poor people in Sri Lanka affected by the December 26 tsunami disaster.

More than a third of the estimated 500,000 people in Sri Lanka affected by the tsunami lost their incomes. As many of the poor fishermen who lost their boats and fishing equipment are still awaiting their repair or replacement, they are unable to go back to their pre-tsunami standard of living and are dependent on government welfare programs.

The project will provide temporary income opportunities to about 4,500 of these tsunami-affected people by employing them to improve drainage systems for 500 kilometers of local government roads damaged by the tsunami.

The local roads will be selected from the Southern and North East provinces, and the southern part of the Western Province, with individual road subprojects to be carried out over four months each at different times over a span of 12 months.

The selected workers will come from tsunami-affected areas in Western, Southern, and North East provinces, and will be trained by selected nongovernment organizations on road rehabilitation work.

"The tsunami destroyed most existing micro, small, and medium-sized businesses and local fisheries in the coastal belt, creating large-scale unemployment," says K. M. Tilakaratne, a Programs/Implementation Officer in ADB's Resident Mission in Sri Lanka. "The project will help meet the urgent need to rehabilitate the local economic and social systems."

ADB has earlier approved $150 million grant and a $7 million loan for the Tsunami-affected Areas Rebuilding Project (TAARP) in Sri Lanka, which will help to improve the living conditions of people in tsunami-affected areas by restoring basic social infrastructure, community and public services, and livelihoods in these areas.

The Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government is the executing agency for the JFPR grant project, which will be carried out over about 12 months.

The JFPR was set up in 2000 with an initial contribution of Y10 billion (about $90 million), followed by additional contributions of $155 million and a commitment of $50 million. In January, the Government of Japan announced the provision of an additional $20 million through its trust funds at ADB to support relief measures in areas devastated by the December earthquake and tsunami.

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