Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2017-07-18

Manufacture of 100 special boats to salvage the lives of victims in situations of flood disaster

- During flood disasters boats have to be used to salvage the lives of people and to distribute food and other basic amenities to the people caught in the floods. In this respect, the inability to find the required number of boats and the non‑availability of the basic essential equipment in certain boats, was a major obstacle faced during the past flood situations. As a solution to this problem, the Sri Lanka Navy has manufactured a special boat which could be used during the flood disaster situations. This boat can be made use of during night time for search and salvage operations and also for relief activities and it consists of life saving jackets, flash lights, solar panels, first aid kits and communication equipments and it can accommodate around 10 persons at a time. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, the Minister of Disaster Management to get such 100 special boats manufactured by the Navy and to identify high risk prone areas of flood disaster and station them in close proximity to such areas, was approved by the Cabinet.