Sri Lankan community offers helping hand to fire victims

DOHA: A Sri Lankan community organisation has come forward to support victims of the devastating fire that claimed the lives of five Sri Lankan workers a week ago. The Sri Lankan Coordinating Committee (SLCC) is now looking for permanent premises to accommodate the 32 Sri Lankans stranded following the fire.

“Currently they are put up in a temporary accommodation in Abu Hamour, provided by a member of the Sri Lankan community. Efforts are on to find a permanent house for them,” SLCC President Lenny Cramer said.

The Sri Lankan Community Benevolent Fund (SLBF) has promised to help the workers pay the rents for the first one month, once they get new accommodation, added Cramer. He thanked all Sri Lankans for their overwhelming support by providing cooked meals, food and other essential items to the stranded workers.

A religious ceremony will be held at the Sri Lankan Embassy premises today at 6 p.m. as a tribute to the five Sri Lankans killed in the fire. All community members have been invited to attend the event.
The remains of the five victims – Thusitha A. Abeywickrama, Roshan T. Kumara, Niula Ekanayake alias Nimal, Amila Madusanka and Nalinda Kumara – were sent to Sri Lanka for final rites.

The expenses for the repatriation of the bodies of Amila and Nalinda were borne by the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) while the expenses for Thusitha, Roshan and Riula were borne by their sponsor.
Of the two persons who were injured in the fire, Dulan Salika Rathnasiri is still in a critical condition at the Trauma Intensive Care Unit of the Hamad Medical Corporation, while his colleague Vijitha Aluthge is recovering at the Burns Unit of the Rumaillah Hospital.
, adding that IRSU on several occasions had requested President Mahinda Rajapakse who is also Finance Minister to rectify the much-debated 06/2006 salary circular, but there was no response.