Sri Lankan president urges officials to provide relief to people hit by adverse weather

COLOMBO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) — Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake has instructed officials to provide immediate relief to people affected by recent adverse weather conditions across the country, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said on Saturday.
The president also instructed the secretary to the Ministry of Defense to ensure that special attention could be given to the safety of people in districts impacted by floods and landslides and to provide necessary support for effective relief operations, according to the PMD.
The president instructed the Finance Ministry to allocate 50 million Sri Lankan rupees (170,000 U.S. dollars) for relief services and urged state officials to ensure proper coordination in delivering relief.
Quoting the disaster management center, the PMD said 24,492 individuals from 6,018 families have been affected by floods and landslides in 11 districts due to adverse weather conditions in recent days.
At present, 2,200 individuals from 584 families were being sheltered in 23 relief centers, the PMD said. (1 rupee equals 0.0034 U.S. dollars) ■