Sri Lanka needs massive financial assistance - Defence Secretary, Sri Lanka

03rd August 2009, colombotoday.com

Defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa says Sri Lanka needs massive international financial assistance to help the some 300,000 displaced Tamil people in the north.

In an interview with BBC News, Mr. Rajapaksa has said he expected much more than had been promised by donors including the UN, the US and Japan.

"We have told the US, Japan and others that we need more money to build infrastructure in the camps and to resettle these people," he has said in a telephone interview.

"Funding is the major bottleneck in carrying out the rehabilitation work," he said.

The defence secretary ruled out any immediate cuts in defence expenditure to fund post-war reconstruction.

"There will be automatic reduction in acquisition of arms and ammunition and that amount will be saved," Mr Rajapaksa said.