As you would have heard, torrential rains and severe floods have swept through parts of Sri Lanka in the last few days. Landslides and mudslides have affected many areas, and the floods are said to be the worst since May 2003. According to the latest reports, around 151 people have died, hundreds are still missing and nearly half-a-million people have been displaced. Other areas are being evacuated due to the heightened risk of flooding.

Sri Lanka floods: Nearly 500,000 displaced as death toll rises – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40070660

 

SLAG has been contacted by the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Geneva. The Embassy has forwarded to us, an urgent request and list of requirements sent by the Ministry of Disaster Management (MDM) through the Foreign Ministry. Please see attached. SLAG wishes to respond immediately. We are in consultation with the Embassy as to whether we could purchase some of the requested items and  deliver it to the MDM. This will be the quickest way of getting assistance across to the victims, without losing time in shipping goods from here. To this end, we are exploring the possibility of identifying a trustworthy person/s in Sri Lanka who could purchase these items and deliver them directly to the MDM.