Aug 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka Cabinet has given its approval to declare 26th December, as a National Safety Day in 2007. A memorandum in this regard submitted by Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe.

The objective of this declaration is to make the people pay serious attention to disasters by increasing their awareness about disasters as well as to create an attitudinal change to mitigate, prevent and also to prepare themselves especially in response to disasters like tsunami of 2004, the government said.

The tsunami on the Boxing Day in 2004 killed over 35,000 people and made over 100,000 people homeless.