Manger of the Infrastructure and Reconstruction programme of the delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Jaime Royo-Olid and Ms. Libuse Soukupova of International Cooperation and Development of EU disclosed the EU assistance during a meeting with the Sri Lankan Minister of Resettlement, Reconstruction and Hindu Religious Affairs D. M. Swaminathan yesterday.

The European Union (EU) has already built 23,000 houses in the North and East and with the total EU contribution of Euro 14 million the program expects to reconstruct at least 3,000 permanent houses (over 12,500 beneficiaries) in 2015.

In the past there have been some issues when resettling displaced people and providing basic facilities and stated that the current government hopes to overcome such obstacles with the help of the EU, Minister Swaminathan said.

He also said that it has become the policy of the current government to maintain close ties with the EU and the international community.