Spring Cleaning

The United States said Tuesday it is funding the clean up of tsunami debris from a lagoon in eastern Sri Lanka, which is known among locals for its singing fish.







The United States said Tuesday it is funding the clean up of tsunami debris from a lagoon in eastern Sri Lanka, which is known among locals for its singing fish. The clean up of the Batticaloa lagoon, expected to be completed by September, will help some 3,500 people of the local fishing community, the embassy said in a statement.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), hired equipment and assembled teams of engineers and technicians, including divers from Sri Lanka's navy, to carry out the work.

"We hope this project can not only restart the livelihoods of fishermen in Batticaloa but also serve as a symbol to the recovery of the community after the tsunami," said the country representative of OTI, Mike DeSisti.

USAID is spending 71,000 dollars for the work.

Locals believe that the sounds from the bottom of the Batticaloa lagoon heard between April and September on full moon nights are from singing fish.

The De