Focus on reconstruction

Focus on reconstruction - Online edition of Daily News

With the relief effort for tsunami victims under way, the focus has now shifted to reconstruction. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has declared reconstruction a priority and several high-powered committees have been appointed to expedite the process....

According to industry insiders, over 22,000 million cubic metres of sand would be needed for immediate construction work, not counting any mega projects that may be drawn up in the long term.

This would be an uphill task, given the limitations on river sand mining. The industry will have to explore the possibility of offshore sand mining, but environmental concerns in a post-tsunami world may bar that option.