President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has firmly stated that the destruction caused by Cyclone Ditwah will not be used as a justification to suspend or reverse the government’s official programs.
The President made these remarks at the inauguration of the national initiative titled “Rebuilding Sri Lanka,” a program launched to coordinate and manage post-disaster reconstruction efforts across the country.
He noted that although Sri Lanka was still in the process of recovering from recent economic hardships when the cyclone struck, the government had no intention of stepping back from its planned policies. Emphasizing continuity, President Dissanayake said the administration remains committed to addressing the crisis while adhering to its established policy framework.
Reflecting on past experiences, the President observed that previous disasters had often been used to justify delays or reversals in governance. However, he stressed that the current administration had consciously decided not to follow that path.
Providing details on the scale of the disaster, President Dissanayake said approximately 700,000 people were displaced due to the cyclone. Around 6,000 houses were completely destroyed, while nearly 110,000 homes suffered partial damage. A further 10,000 houses, though not physically damaged, were deemed unsafe, prompting the evacuation of residents.
The President underlined that he remains accountable to the mandate granted to the government and will not allow any external influence to weaken it. Parliament has approved a supplementary allocation of Rs. 500 billion to address cyclone-related recovery efforts.
From this allocation, Rs. 5,000 million has been set aside to reconstruct 2,500 fully destroyed houses, with plans in place to build more than 50,000 new homes by 2026 as part of the long-term recovery program.
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