Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has said that the government has planned to begin the reconstruction process by January 15 with the help of all political parties and the LTTE.

President Kumaratunga estimated the infrastructure reconstruction in the tsunami affected areas would cost the nation nearly 1 billion dollars, the official Daily News reported Friday.

Soon after returning from a visit to eastern Trincomalee refugee camps, President Kumaratunga on Thursday said that with the help of international community, the reconstruction will begin soon,

"All political parties including the opposition leader have willingly accepted the proposal and we have already written to the LTTE. Their response is expected soon," she said adding that the reconstruction is expected to be completed in six months.

The president said she was astounded by the scale of human destruction. The damage to the infrastructure in the affected areas is also colossal. She thanked the international community and the civic society which volunteered almost immediately to offer their assistance in this hour of grief.

As of Thursday, the death count has risen to 25,000, (largest death toll from Ampara with 7,911) plus 4,600 missing people from north to south.

"The number of missing people may also add up to the death toll ultimately," she said.

"We would not expect the number of dead to increase in large numbers from diseases," she said adding that measures have been taken to control disease in the affected areas, but the death toll could still rise due to the discovery of new bodies buried under the rubble.

An estimated 75,000 houses have been completely damaged by the tsunami waves that ravaged the country's coast on Sunday morning. Another 21,000 houses have been partially damaged.

The president said since Monday, relief supplies were sent to the affected areas in the North and East including the uncleared areas under LTTE control.

Denying reports that the North and East had been neglected in the relief operations, the President said nearly 80 percent of the foreign medical and rescue teams have been dispatched to the Northand East.

"We have been in touch with the GAs in these areas and supplies have been sent to these areas according to their requests."

Responding to a question, the president observed that returning to war with LTTE is far more remote than it was before December 26since the LTTE had suffered heavy losses to its cadres and equipment.

"Our camps have also lost a lot of equipment but physical damage to camp structures are less." she said.

The President said yesterday that discussions are already on to establish a South Asian facility to monitor earthquakes and issue warnings with one station in Sri Lanka.

Source: Xinhua