COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The Sri Lankan government has estimated that rebuilding the parts of the country devastated by tsunamis will cost about $1 billion.
As trucks carrying food, water and medicine head toward the Tamil-dominated north and east, the government is drawing up an ambitious plan to rebuild the country.
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga told Channel NewsAsia that more needs to be done, the station reported Tuesday.
"We need trauma counseling. We don't have trained people here, very few. We have already started sending small teams to some places. We are now training some people, emergency training to doctors to go out and do this," she said.
Assessing the extent of the devastation, the government said the reconstruction of Sri Lanka would be an arduous task.
The bad news is that the discord between the government and the separatist Tamil Tigers could become worse. The Tamil Tigers have accused the government of not sending enough supplies to areas under the control of the Tigers. The government denies this.
