US says legal restrictions hinder its contribution to P-TOMS Trust Fund

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 July 2005, 07:23 GMT]
Because of legal restrictions, the USA will not be contributing to the Trust Fund associated with P-TOMS, a press release issued by the Embassy of the United States of America in Colombo said Friday. However, the US welcomed other donor's participation in the Trust Fund.

Fulltext of the Press Release follows:

United States Position on P-TOMS Trust Fund

Colombo, July 8, 2005: In order to clarify the U.S. position on the P-TOMS Trust Fund, the U.S. Embassy wishes to release the following statement:

The U.S. supports a mechanism, such as that outlined in the Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS), to coordinate the equitable and expeditious prioritization, delivery and distribution of assistance to tsunami victims from all communities in the north and east. We believe this mechanism, if properly implemented with the support and participation of all affected communities, can help improve the lives of those affected by the December 26 tragedy. Because of legal restrictions, the U.S. will not be contributing to the Trust Fund associated with the P-TOMS. We welcome other donors’ participation in the fund. We have allocated more than $130 million for tsunami relief and reconstruction in Sri Lanka. Some of these funds are spent on projects administered by NGOs and INGOs that work in all affected areas, including the north, east and south.