Sri Lanka says donors fail to keep tsunami aid promises - Khaleej Times

QUOTING:

“Although pledges are high, less than 40 million dollars has been converted into real cash so far,” Jayasundara was quoted as saying on the website Lankabusinessonline.com.
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The IMF told the government to firm up promised international support amid fears many potential donors might not honour commitments made in the wake of the tsunami devastation.

“Aid pledges by donors have been impressive but commitments for 2005 still need to be firmed up,” the IMF said in a report assessing the economic impact of the tsunamis regionwide.

In the December 2003 earthquake that killed more than 30,000 people in the Iranian city of Bam, aid pledges from countries and donors totalled more than one billion dollars but only about 34 million dollars was received.

Central bank figures show that Sri Lanka has, however, received about 600 million dollars in private transfers from individuals such as Sri Lankans and other foreigners abroad. That money has gone into private organisations handling tsunami relief and not into government coffers.

“There is a perception that the government is basically corrupt,” Jayasundara said, explaining why money was slow in reaching the government while private organisations were flush with foreign cash.

His remarks came as police Wednesday arrested a senior civil servant on a charge of siphoning off tsunami aid meant for thousands of survivors in the island’s devastated north-east.

Emphasis added.