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No relief: Sri Lanka getting winter gear, useless goods
azcentral.com,
Feb. 6, 2005 12:00 AM.
GALLE, Sri Lanka - The grateful people of Sri Lanka would like to make a humble request to all those who have offered succor to its devastated tsunami victims: Please, no more ski jackets, moisturizing gel or Viagra.
The recent outpouring of support, while helpful on the whole, has brought with it a mountain of unusable stuff from the Western world. That includes cozy winter hats, Arctic-weather tents, colognes and thong underwear.Dubbed "frustrated cargo" by aid workers because it often has nowhere to go, these misfit items are gathering dust in warehouses and creating major headaches for relief workers in the field.
Mounds of donated clothes litter the highway south of Colombo. Bottled water from European streams is flowing freely, raising concern about litter in the jungle. Medicines that are no longer needed, such as morphine, are feared to be loose in the country.
More...
Published: Sun Feb 6 17:09:28 EST 2005
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Sri Lankan withdraws tax on most goods related to tsunami
xinhuanet.com,
2005-02-06 19:08:39.
COLOMBO, Feb. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- The Sri Lankan government announced that they have decided to withdraw taxes and duty exemptions on most goods needed for tsunami reconstruction, the local website said on Sunday.
"Only certain items such as medical supplies, milk powder, infant milk, infant food, roofing material and components of pre-fabricated houses will be released free of duty," the Finance Ministry said.
The Ministry has also authorized the Sri Lanka Customs to charge duty and taxes on items received as relief to tsunami victims.
According to Finance Ministry sources rice, biscuits, instant food, garments including used clothes and drinking water will no longer be permitted to released free of duty and taxes in view of the implications on local producers and industries.
More...
Published: Sun Feb 6 17:08:02 EST 2005
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Norwegian Ambassador meets LTTE in Killinochchi
Munza Mushtaq in Colombo,
February 5, 2005, 4.38 p.m..
Norwegian Ambassador Hans Bratskar today held in depth discussions with the LTTE in formulating a common structure between the Government and the LTTE pertaining to the reconstruction activities in the past tsunami scenario.
During a meeting today with LTTE political wing leader S.P. Tamilselvan in Killinochchi, Ambassador Bratskar emphasised the necessity for the two parties, the Government and the LTTE to expeditiously reach consensus on this matter as the international community is in anticipation of an accredited structure to pool in the overwhelmingly flowing aid and thereby ensure the right mechanism for equitable distribution of aid, with transparency and accountability devoid of corruption and malpractices.
Mr. Tamilselvan noted that his organisation is aimed at effectively carrying out reconstruction activities based on ground realities and the realisation that the people in the North East coast already suffered immensely during the two-decade old war and therefore deserve an asymmetric treatment and the necessity for an equitable distribution mechanism.
Published: Sat Feb 5 05:41:27 EST 2005
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Protest at Sri Lanka tsunami aid
