The International Development Association, an arm of the World Bank, will provide a loan of US$75 million to fund a housing reconstruction program in Sri Lanka's war-ravaged northeast, the local website said Tuesday.

The project will facilitate the reconstruction of over 40,000 houses over a four-year period, Sri Lanka's Ministry of Finance said in a statement Tuesday.

The total cost of the project is US$77 million and the Sri Lankan government will contribute the remaining amount, but the statement didn't specify the terms and conditions of the loan.

Most buildings, houses and infrastructure in the northeast have been destroyed or damaged by a two-decade war which was confined to those areas. But a cease-fire that was struck between Tamil Tiger rebels and the government in early 2002 has helped the country lay the groundwork for rebuilding in the northeast.

The December tsunami that devastated Sri Lanka and other countries in the region also damaged property, mostly along the country's eastern and southern coastlines.
 
(Xinhua News Agency February 16, 2005)