Rebuilding Sri Lanka post cyclone will need major global support: Ex-minister de Silva

New Delhi, Nov 30 (PTI) Sri Lanka will require substantial external assistance for long-term reconstruction once the full scale of damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah is known, former minister of the island nation and the Chairman of its Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance, Harsha de Silva, said on Sunday.

In an interview from Colombo, de Silva acknowledged India’s swift humanitarian response after the cyclone-triggered floods left a trail of destruction across the island nation.

Describing the scale of destruction inflicted by the cyclone, he said, “The situation is pretty tough. As you already know, more than 150 people have lost their lives, over 200 people are missing, and over a million people have been affected.” “We see vast destruction across almost all districts of the island, with major infrastructure damage including roads, bridges, buildings, massive landslides, and rail tracks,” the former minister said.

De Silva acknowledged the contributions of various partners in the relief effort, particularly India’s prompt response.

“India has been, as always, quick to extend their helping hand, and we appreciate it. India has already started quite a bit of work here, and depending on what the future requirements are, I’m sure the government will open channels of communication to figure out what is most essential in the time to come,” he said.

He emphasised that the focus at present is on addressing basic humanitarian needs rather than seeking large-scale external financial inflows.

“The current situation really is to make sure that the people who are displaced are brought to safe locations and that they have the necessities - food, clothing, medicines, and things like that,” the former minister said.

He clarified that Sri Lanka has adequate budgetary allocations for the ongoing relief phase and the country does not require large external inflows at the moment.

“I don’t think we need large amounts of financial support to come in from outside right now. As Chairman of the Committee on Public Finance, I am aware that we have sufficient allocations,” he said.

De Silva noted, however, that significant external investments would be needed later to rebuild major infrastructure.

“It is really down the road, when we really assess what the requirements are, then perhaps we would need support from not just India, but from our friends across, and that would be more in terms of investments into rebuilding infrastructure - the roads, the bridges, the power lines, and so on,” he said.

The bigger challenge, according to him, would be working within the fiscal limits of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme imposed on Sri Lanka, which caps primary expenditure at 13 per cent of GDP.

“The real issue is going to be how we are going to make amendments in the IMF programme so that we can actually spend what we need to spend to get the economy back on track,” he said.

Calling for greater private participation in infrastructure development, de Silva said the government must move away from the “archaic belief” that it alone can fund such projects. Sectors like energy, he said, could benefit from renewed private investment.

“For instance, in energy - our transmission, generation, distribution - perhaps this is a time to rethink their reversal of the reform that was started previously to invite further private investment in infrastructure, because the government is certainly going to be quite restricted in the amounts it will be able to expend in the coming years,” he said.

He also urged political unity in responding to the crisis effectively. “Beyond petty politics, the Leader of the Opposition has already mentioned that our party is willing to support the government in this endeavour to get people out of the difficult situation.” India has been providing extensive humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka under Operation Sagar Bandhu, launched in response to the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.

More than 43 tonnes of relief material, including tents, blankets, dry and fresh rations, medicines, hygiene kits, and tarpaulins, have been transported through Indian Navy ships INS Vikrant, INS Udaigiri, and INS Sukanya, and IAF transport aircraft – C-130J and IL-76.

Eighty National Disaster Response Force personnel, supported by four search-and-rescue canines, are working in coordination with Sri Lankan security forces for rescue and evacuation operations. PTI RK OZ OZ