(UTV|COLOMBO) – Japan has agreed to provide technological know-how to Sri Lanka on handling natural disasters, Minister of Disaster Management Anura Priyadarshana Yapa has said.
Minister Priyadarshana Yapa recently held discussions with the Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Keiichi Ishii, who is visiting Sri Lanka, on tackling natural disasters.
According to the Minister a cooperation program is in progress between the two countries to cope with natural disasters and the Japanese Minister has arrived in the island to further discuss about the program.
Under the cooperation program, attention has been drawn on developing a system to obtain correct meteorological data and environmental research, etc. Discussions also focused on upgrading Sri Lanka’s weather forecasting system and controlling flooding. The Japanese delegation has agreed to support to upgrade the Meteorology Department with state of the art technology.
Minister Yapa said an exchange program will also be implemented between National Building Research Organization (NBRO) and a Japanese organization on landslide disasters.
Japan has provided a Rs. 3.4 billion (Japanese Yen 2.5 billion) to improve short range weather forecast through the establishment of a Doppler Weather Radar Network.
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