The Sri Lankan Army has been carrying out rebuilding work on the island’s south coast, following violence by Sinhala Buddhist mobs which left at least 4 people dead.

Rajitha Senaratne, the Sri Lankan government Minister of Fisheries, justified the decision to hand the work over to the security forces by saying,

“Why we have given it to military is because no one else would be able to finish rebuilding by meeting the month’s deadline to finish the work.”

Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has donated Rs 5 million rupees towards the construction of new living quarters for monks at the Bellana Sri Dharmapala Pirivena in Agalawaththa, which the Sri Lankan Air Force will help to construct.

A Tamil refugee has been arrested in Tamil Nadu for holding a hunger strike demanding the Indian government hand him, his family and other Tamils who have fled Sri Lanka to the United Nations, instead of deporting them back to the island.

32-year-old Chenthuran was arrested by Tamil Nadu police from a camp in Cheyyar, earlier this week and is currently being held in Puzhal Prison in Chennai.

A second patrol boat donated by the Australian government to Sri Lanka has arrived in Colombo this week, having been ceremoniously received by the Sri Lanka Navy.

Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told The Island that the army will be carrying out rebuilding work in Aluthgama and other towns affected by Sinhala mob violence.

Rajapaksa said that the military would provide free labour while the government would cover other costs.

"The president has issued the necessary instructions before leaving for the Maldives,’ the defence secretary said, adding that the government would take all measures to prevent recurrence of communal violence.

The European Commission has announced it will provide €250,000 to help families in the island’s North-East, affected by the drought caused by a lack of adequate rainfall.

“The effect of the drought is likely to linger on for some time as water reservoirs have dried out”, said David Daly, the Ambassador of the European Union in Sri Lanka, in a press release.