Sri Lanka President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has said that reconstruction work after the tsunami was now a priority and would get under way shortly, official DailyNews reported Monday.

Kumaratunga said: "We are now engaged in planning for the reconstruction effort, which we want to start off on Jan. 15.

She was quoted as saying that the second operation, which is the immediate commencement of reconstruction, involves damaged roads, schools, hospitals and houses, and we have almost finished planning for it.

"Sri Lanka will need more food but nobody will go hungry because of the tragedy," the president said, stressing "The situation is under control in the whole country."

"We have been sending the food, water and other things from the very first day. In addition to the government, the normal citizens have come up magnificently," she said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2005)