The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a US$1 million humanitarian donation to the government of Nepal, formalising a commitment the President announced five days earlier as the country’s flood disaster deepened.
Cabinet approved a proposal submitted by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Ada Derana reported, citing a statement from the Department of Government Information.
This completes a pledge already made
The money is not a new commitment. Dissanayake directed the government to provide the US$1 million on the evening of 27 August, in an announcement made through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism. Three days later, Deputy Defence Minister Aruna Jayasekara said preparations “are underway” to provide the funds — wording that indicated the money had been promised but not yet released.
Tuesday’s decision supplies the formal Cabinet authority for the payment. Ada Derana did not say when the funds will be transferred, through what channel, or which Nepali agency will receive them.
The government’s stated reasoning
The proposal cited the longstanding relationship between the two countries, which the statement described as rooted in cultural, religious and people-to-people ties.
It also cited Sri Lanka’s own experience of the humanitarian and economic consequences of major natural disasters. That is the same justification Dissanayake gave when he first offered assistance: the country’s recovery from Cyclone Ditwah ten months ago drew heavily on foreign support, including an Indian credit line, an ADB reconstruction package and a Chinese grant for bridge rebuilding.
The statement said urgent relief and recovery assistance is still required in Nepal, with searches for missing people continuing, a risk of further flooding remaining and critical infrastructure extensively damaged.
The disaster has grown since the pledge
When Dissanayake directed the donation on 27 August, the confirmed death toll stood in the low hundreds. It has since passed 1,000 across Nepal and Tibet, with rescuers still working to reach workers trapped in flooded hydropower tunnels.
Ada Derana placed the flash floods in northern Nepal on 26 August. Its report named the affected area as “Raghuwa District”; the district at the centre of the disaster in all earlier reporting, including Sri Lankan coverage, is Rasuwa, which borders Tibet and contains the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli hydropower projects. LankaNewz has used the established spelling.
What was not reported
No other verified newsroom had carried the Cabinet decision at the time of writing, and Ada Derana’s account rests on the Department of Government Information statement alone.
The report did not say whether the US$1 million is a cash grant or will be spent on goods and services, whether it is additional to the security forces relief teams Sri Lanka offered, or whether Nepal has accepted it. Nepal has previously turned away some foreign rescue teams.
