Himalayan News Service

Colombo, July 24:

The Sri Lankan government plans to cancel agreements with those donors who had agreed

to rebuild damaged houses in the tsunami-affected areas, but have still not begun the work,

Xinhua reports. The government will issue ultimatums to those donors who had signed Memoranda of Understanding to help in the tsunami relief effort. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting on Friday, the Sunday Observer quoted cabinet spokesperson and Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva as saying. “It was noted during the cabinet meeting that several donors

had not started the construction though the land had been allocated,” he said. Several Memoranda of Understanding to help in the relief and rehabilitation effort were signed in the aftermath of the December 26 tsunami that claimed over 30,000 lives in the island nation and left nearly a million people homeless. “We are going to summon all such organisations and give them an ultimatum to commence the process. If they fail to do so, we will then cancel the MoU with those organisations,” Silva said. He said district committees had already been empowered to carry out the work. Funds would be channelled through the committees to be given to people to rebuild their homes destroyed by the tsunami.