Highlights

• On the morning of 16 May, cyclonic storm Mahasen made landfall in Patuakhali district in southern Bangladesh moved forward to the northeast away from Myanmar, weakened and dissipated on 17 May.

• Relevant storm tracking sites stopped tracking the weather system once it moved over northern Bangladesh early on 17 May.

• 7 deaths were reported by the Government of Sri Lanka.

• The Government of Bangladesh reported 14 deaths, 65 injured persons.

Since War’s End an Erosion of Rights, Absence of Accountability

(Colombo, May 20, 2013) – Respect for basic rights and liberties has declined in Sri Lanka in the four years since the government defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Human Rights Watch said today. This week marks the fourth anniversary of the brutal civil war's end.

A programme is working to enhance Sri Lanka’s recovery from the 2004 tsunami by improving environmental infrastructure in the coastal district of Ampara.

The Environmental Remediation Programme (ERP) focuses on solid waste management, environmental restoration and improvement of urban surface water drainage. The programme is funded by the European Union and implemented by UNOPS, in collaboration with the local authorities and communities in each stage of the project, from design to completion.

Managing solid waste

05/16/2013 12:51 GMT

COLOMBO, May 16, 2013 (AFP) - Sri Lankan troops have completed clearing mines from all areas needed for re-settlement and farming in the island's former war zone, the military said Thursday, nearly four years after crushing Tamil rebels.

The military said it had removed nearly a million unexploded ordnances, including anti-personnel mines, anti-tank mines and improvised explosive devices, from the northern and eastern regions where the rebels fought for independence.

05/15/2013 11:12 GMT

COLOMBO, May 15, 2013 (AFP) - At least seven people have been killed and two are missing in floods and mudslides following heavy rain across Sri Lanka, the disaster management centre said Wednesday.

A tropical cyclone east of the island did not make landfall but caused unusually heavy rain in the past two days which triggered flash floods, the Disaster Management Centre said.

Five of the dead drowned in flooding while two were buried in mudslides.

The low pressure condition that was evident close to the Bay of Bengal has developed into a cyclone. Names that have been proposed by the countries in the Asian regions are used when naming cyclonic situations that form in the Arabian Sea and in the Bay of Bengal. This time Sri Lanka was granted the opportunity to name this cyclone and it has been named Mahasen.

06/03/2013 – Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) today handed over 3 ambulances worth 28.5 million rupees to 3 hospitals in the Eastern Province.

Trincomalee General Hospital, Gomarankadawala Base Hospital & Padaviya Base Hospital are the recipients of this new ambulances.

The handover ceremony took place in Colombo today (06/03/2013) under the patronage of the President of SLRCS Jagath Abeysinghe, Deputy Director General of SLRCS Sudath Madugalle & the Country Coordinator of German Red Cross Tim Bray.