Sri Lanka opens showcase bridge on tsunami anniversary

MATARA, Sri Lanka (AFP) - Sri Lanka marked the third anniversary of the devastating Asian tsunami by opening a showpiece bridge in the south of the island where 31,000 people died.
President Mahinda Rajapakse formally commissioned the 116-metre (383 feet) bridge across the Nilwala river here in this southern coastal town of Matara 160 kilometers (100 miles).
Rajapakse observed two minutes of silence at 9.25 am, the time when the first giant waves lashed the coastline in a disaster that also displaced a million people on the island.
Rajapakse later followed three school bands across the six-lane bridge, the widest in the country, that was damaged during the tsunami on December 26, 2004. South Korea gifted the seven-million-dollar structure.
Sri Lanka declared the anniversary "national safety" day," said disaster management minister Mahinda Samarasinghe.
The ministry which is tasked with organising post-tsunami reconstruction work announced island-wide ceremonies to create awareness on how to deal with such disasters in the future.
Sri Lanka's post-tsunami reconstruction work has been dogged by graft and renewed fighting that has blocked relief to survivors, with less than a fifth of the money pledged properly accounted for, according to watchdogs.
Foreign aid pledges for rebuilding topped 3.2 billion dollars, but Sri Lanka says it has received only 1.2 billion dollars.
And out of that, 634 million dollars -- less than 20 percent of the original amount pledged -- had been spent by the end of November, according to Transparency International, an international watchdog on corruption.
Sri Lanka's government claims success in rebuilding homes, but international agencies say major problems remain. Huge amounts of foreign cash that poured in did not reach its intended destination.
While the authorities claim they built more houses than required, many people still live in makeshift dwellings for reasons ranging from poor building standards to rebel fighting in areas where the new homes are located.
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