S’pore Red Cross fund-raising drive for Sri Lanka’s cyclone-hit communities to get govt boost
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People salvaging their belongings from a flooded house along the banks of Kelani River earlier in December after Cyclone Ditwah hit Sri Lanka.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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SINGAPORE – The Singapore Government will contribute US$100,000 (S$129,000) as seed money to support the Singapore Red Cross’ (SRC) public fund-raising efforts for the humanitarian crisis caused by Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement on Dec 12 that the Government’s contribution will supplement SRC’s pledge of $50,000 to support the immediate needs
In late November, Sri Lanka was hit by floods and landslides
More than two million people, or nearly 10 per cent of the country’s population, have been affected by the worst disaster to hit the island this century. Over 630 people have been killed.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan have written to Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, respectively, to convey their condolences over the tragic loss of lives and the destruction caused by the cyclone, MFA said.
Experts say that Sri Lanka’s fragile economic recovery will be delayed as Ditwah’s devastation of homes, roads and vital crops pushes more families into poverty.
Sri Lanka was facing its worst economic crisis in decades – which peaked in 2022 – when the cyclone hit. Nearly 25 per cent of its 22 million people are affected by poverty.
“Cyclone Ditwah struck regions already weakened by years of economic stress,” Ms Azusa Kubota, the United Nations Development Programme resident representative in Sri Lanka, told Reuters.
Recovery is likely to be slower and more costly in regions where high “flooding and high vulnerability overlap”, she added.
Mr Dissanayake has said the Sri Lankan government cannot fund the reconstruction costs alone and has appealed for foreign aid, including from the International Monetary Fund, reported AFP news agency earlier in December.
