ADB Chief here on Saturday

 
Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Tadao Chino will visit Sri Lanka from January 15-16 to visit tsunami-affected areas. Chino will also meet President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, the ADB said.
Chino will travel to Trincomalee and Muttur to survey the damage. In Trincomalee, he will also visit refugee camps. In this region, ADB plans to extend an existing livelihood project, the North East Coastal Community Development Project, to tsunami victims.
The ADB is allocating up to US$50 million from current projects in Sri Lanka to aid tsunami victims and is preparing new emergency assistance totaling between US$100 million and $150 million.

Overall, the ADB is offering up to $675 million to help finance priority reconstruction and rehabilitation work in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Maldives.
This week, ADB together with the World Bank and JBIC and in coordination with the United Nations is fielding teams to various parts of the country, in both the South and the North-East.
 
ADB expects to be involved in several sectors, including transport, livelihood, housing, education and community development in coastal areas, says Alessandro Pio, country director of ADB's Sri Lanka resident mission. ADB is also preparing to lead and fund a US$ 1 million study to develop a tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean.