Commemoration ceremonies on behalf of both local and foreign victims will be organized across the country today (26) as has been the practice since 2005, Pradeep Koddipili, the Director at the Disaster Management Center told News 1st on Saturday (Dec. 26).

Religious observances will be held this time around with limited participation, in adherence to COVID-19 guidelines.

Sunday, 26th December 2004 remains unforgettable for all Sri Lankans as the ‘Boxing Day Tsunami’ caused by a series of earthquakes severely destroyed the coastal belt of the island.

The Sumatra–Andaman earthquake on 26th December 2004, with a magnitude of 9.1 on the Richter scale in the sea near Sumatra, Indonesia, created a series of massive tsunami waves that struck Sri Lanka and neighboring states India, Indonesia, the Maldives, and Thailand, among others.

An estimated figure of more than 227,000 people along the surrounding coasts of the Indian Ocean lost their lives, making the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami the deadliest natural disaster in the 21st century, according to foreign reports.

Since many Sri Lankans did not have any previous experience with a natural disaster of this kind, the damage was beyond imagination with thousands displaced and killed within a short time.

The impact of the Tsunami which struck in 2004, continues to live on, even 16 years since the devastation.

A Cabinet Memorandum titled “National Safety Day” was approved in 2005, to declare December 26th as a day to commemorate the people who perished in the 2004 tsunami.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, the Jaffna Stallions openers Avishka Fernando and Johnson Charles created a stable platform for them to build on.

Later, a 69 run partnership between Shoaib Malik and Dhananjaya De Silva coupled with a cameo from skipper Thisara Perera fired the Stallions to a competitive score of 188 runs for the loss of 6 wickets.

Chasing a mammoth target of 189 runs for victory, the Gladiators’ innings got off to a disastrous start when they lost 3 wickets for a mere 7 runs.

A valiant effort by the Gladiators’ skipper Bhanuka Rajapaksa was insufficient to guide his team to LPL glory after he was dismissed for a 17-ball 40.

The Gladiators eventually sunk to a score of 135/9 and the Stallions claimed victory by 53 runs.

The decision to cancel the grant from being offered to the South Asian island nation was announced as part of MCC’s latest decisions concerning its grant assistance programmes.

“At its quarterly meeting on December 15, the MCC Board of Directors selected new countries as eligible for U.S. Government grant assistance,” the US foreign aid agency said in a statement.

“The Board discontinued the proposed compact with Sri Lanka.”

The MCC had earlier announced it would offer Sri Lanka a grant to carry out projects targeting the transport sector and land administration – a move critics said would affect the country’s territorial integrity.

Sierra Leone and Kiribati had been chosen as the next beneficiary countries of similar grants focused on policy reforms and reducing poverty, MCC noted.

MCC’s board had also approved a USD 23 million threshold program with the Solomon Islands.