Fifty-two lives have been lost due to natural disasters in the last ten years with losses and damages valued at $2.42 billion.
Assistant Minister for Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management Vijay Nath highlighted this during the 2020/2021 National Budget debate.
He adds $800,000 has been allocated to Prime Ministers Disaster and Relief and Rehabilitation Fund to ensure that disaster relief and response activity are provided to affected communities during disasters affected.
“We are not disheartened with this amount . It may see relatively small comparing to the damaged cause by disasters as it goes without saying that reprioritization is part of the process when disasters do happen”.
With $16.6 million allocated to the Ministry in this year’s budget, Nath says their focus is to coordinate government’s effort in building resilient and sustainable communities.
