1. The Hon’ble External Affairs Minister of India, Mr. S.M. Krishna, visited the District General Hospital in Kilinochchi today, where a ceremony was held for him to handover critical medical equipment to improve the standard of medical care and to obviate the need to refer a number of cases for treatment to Jaffna or to Colombo via ambulances. In his remarks on the occasion, Mr. Krishna pointed out that similar equipment had also been provided to the Mullaitivu District General Hospital.

2. The General Hospitals of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts, which served a population of 400,000, were completely destroyed during the conflict. These hospitals started functioning after the end of the conflict when resettlement started, but lacked essential equipment. India’s assistance includes the supply of 28 types of medical equipment to the two hospitals, including equipment for the ICU, operation theatre, pediatric, obstetric and diagnostic units. The project strengthens the most important medical care institutions of these two districts by equipping them with necessary facilities to provide complete patient care to the catchment population, which also includes the adjoining Mannar district.

3. The total cost of the Project is INR 5.31 crores (SLR 116.8 million). The contract for the project was awarded to eight local companies after a process of open bidding carried out by the High Commission, with the assistance of the Ministry of Health, Northern Province and other agencies of the Government of Sri Lanka. The equipment has already been supplied, installed and is being put to use.

4. Shortly thereafter, the Hon’ble External Affairs Minister participated in another ceremony at Sivapadakalaiyagam school in Kilinochchi, to mark the handing over of the first school under an Indian project for repair of 79 war-damaged schools in the three districts of Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya in the Northern Province.

5. The objective of the project was to assist in the early restoration of educational activities for children of resettled idPs in the Northern Province and to deliver a facelift to basic educational infrastructure of the region. The project will directly benefit a community comprising about 42,000 students and 2,400 teachers & educational officers, by providing students with a conducive learning environment and helping restore educational activities in these districts to their normal capacity.

6. The total cost of the project is 187 million Sri Lankan Rupees. The project in being implemented in close coordination with agencies of the Government of Sri Lanka, including the Presidential Task Force for Resettlement, Development and Security in the Northern Province, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Education, Northern Province. The technical monitoring and quality inspection during the construction process is being carried out by engineers and technical officers of Zonal Education Offices under the Provincial Ministry of Education. A local construction company was awarded the contract for this project after a process of open tendering carried out locally by the High Commission, with the assistance of Provincial Ministry of Education. Work is progressing as per schedule at the other schools and the project is expected to be completed in nine months from the award of contract.