PM provides compensation to 2017 flood victims

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe attended the opening ceremony of a new three storey building at the Weliwitiya-Divithura Divisional Secretariat in the Galle District. A program was also held parallel to this, to distribute compensation for families affected by flooding and other disasters. Compensation was provided to  1200 families affected by the severe flooding in 2017. About 71.2 million rupees had been allocated as compensation for families from the Weliwitiya-Divithura, Elpitiya, Niyagama and Karandeniya administrative divisions. Addressing the occasion Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that the previous government had taken 890 million dollars for Norochcholai and that the problem has still not been resolved. He added that $1.3 billion was taken for the Hambantota Port $350 billion for Mattala. The Prime Minister went on to state that there is more debt that has been hidden away in various places and that they have measured to reduce the debt burden. Commenting about the Mattala Airport the Premier noted that they are holding discussions with India regarding Mattala and that when a deal is reached for Mattala they would be able to reduce the country's debt by a further 1300 million.