Sri Lankan FM comments on relief efforts during Beijing visit

(30 Dec 2004) NB: TRUE DATE CREATED = 28/12/2004

1. Wide shot Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar walking into speech room of China International Issues Study (CIIS) Institute
2. Journalists and audience
3. Wide of room
4. Medium shot Ma Zhengang, President of CIIS proposing one minute silence for the victims of the earthquake
5. Close up of Foreign minister Kadirgamar sitting in silence
6. Wide tilt up from audience to podium
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister:
"He wasn''t offering anything specific, at his level he can''t do that, but the government is in touch, the ambassador is in touch with our government and I know, not from him, but I know that the helicopters are coming and lots of other things. The detail is too, a lot of manoeuvre involved at the moment. "
8. Foreign minister Kadirgamar talking to foreign diplomats
9. SOUNDBITE(English) Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister:
"The impression that I get from my colleagues in Colombo, I wasn''t there when all this happened, is that a great deal is coming in and they''re having a few problems with coordinating. You know you can get swamped a bit."
10. Kadirgamar walking away
STORYLINE:
Sri Lankan officials are battling shock and logistical problems as they try to direct food and medicine to areas hardest hit by a massive tsunami, the nation''s foreign minister said Tuesday.
Lakshman Kadirgamar, who was on an official visit to Beijing, also said Tuesday that he expected the death toll in his disaster-ravaged country to go higher than the current 15-thousand estimated dead.
The Sri Lankan National Disaster Management Centre said the death toll had risen to 18,706 including in rebel-held areas.
Kadirgamar said he was aware the US was sending helicopters and there were ships being sent by India, but he added, "they''re having a few problems with coordinating."
Sri Lanka''s Health Ministry said it was dispatching 500 physicians by helicopter to the affected area to treat the wounded and to ensure medical care in case of waterborne diseases such as diarrhea.
Four aircraft - including an airborne surgical hospital from Finland - were to arrive in Colombo with aid and medical supplies, according to the Red Cross.
A German aircraft is bringing in a water purification plant.
Britain is sending a logistical support team, and Japanese health officials and medicine are on the way.
India has sent two ships carrying thousands relief packages consisting of blankets, saris, water buckets, and pots and pans.
China on Tuesday sent a plane carrying 610-thousand US dollars worth of tents, blankets and food plus 200-thousand US dollars in cash to India and Sri Lanka, the government''s Xinhua News Agency said.
China has made an initial pledge of 2.6 (m) million US dollars in aid to the affected countries.
One million people have been displaced in massive flooding unleashed by Sunday''s magnitude 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Indonesia.
The tidal waves and flooding have also uprooted land mines in the war-torn country, threatening to kill or maim aid workers and survivors who are attempting to return to what''s left of their homes.
Keywords - Indian ocean earthquake tsunami

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