Dr. Prathibha Mahanama has stated that Sri Lanka’s disaster relief policy is being implemented in accordance with the Disaster Management Act, which was enacted in 2005.
As per this policy, the maximum compensation the government can provide for a completely destroyed house is capped at Rs. 2.5 million. However, Dr. Mahanama has raised concerns over the release of significantly larger sums for the houses of MPs that were set on fire during the recent protests, despite these legal limitations.
He further highlighted that the compensation in question was determined by the previous government based on the recommendations of a committee appointed by the then Minister of Public Administration. Dr. Mahanama has called for an investigation into the criteria used by this committee when making its recommendations.
Additionally, he revealed that many of the houses for which government compensation was granted were already covered by fire insurance, and the respective insurance companies had disbursed payments to the affected individuals. In light of this, Dr. Mahanama has suggested that the government should initiate a formal process to recover these funds from the Treasury.
