Seventy permanent houses of China-Sri Lanka Friendship Village were handed over to the Sri Lankan government by the Chinese Red Cross and China Charity Foundation on Tuesday at Walahanduwa, 112 km south of Colombo.

Guo Changjiang, vice president of the Chinese Red Cross, said that the project is a symbol of the friendship between the two nations and it embodies the best wishes of the Chinese people toward the people in Sri lanka who were hit hard by the tsunami disaster on December 26 last year.

"I wish the project will help tsunami victims in Sri Lanka get back to normal life," he said, adding that "we committed to live up to donors' expectations and people's trust to accomplish a quality project."

Kingsley T.Wicramarathne, governor of South province, said he on behalf of the Sri Lankan government thanked the Chinese people and government for building the village for tsunami affected people.

The village is being built under a memorandum of understanding signed on May 10 by the China Charity Foundation and the Sri Lankan government.

The construction of the project began on August 22, and 70 of the 146 sets of the houses to be built in the village have been finished up to now. The project will cost US$10 million.

(Xinhua News Agency December 21, 2005)