A top United Nations Development Program (UNDP) official has arrived in Sri Lanka to examine ways and means for moving forward with the tsunami recovery effort, the local website Lankapage said on Thursday.

UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, Hafiz Pasha, begins his Asian trip in Sri Lanka on Thursday. He will travel to tsunami-devastated coastal areas and meet with senior government officials.

"Seven weeks after the tsunami, it is now necessary to take stock of the humanitarian response and more clearly define the transitional stage into recovery and long-term reconstruction," said Pasha.

"Through it all, the needs, hopes, and involvement of the communities hardest hit by the tsunami must be at the heart of the work at hand," he said.

His regional tour, which will span Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Indonesia and Thailand, also includes consultations with donor partners in the UK and Japan. 
 
(Xinhua News Agency February 18, 2005)