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# Japan Gives $447,000 for Demining in Northern Sri Lanka
- URL: https://www.jaffnamonitor.com/japan-gives-447-000-for-demining-in-northern-sri-lanka/
- Published: 2026-09-29T23:04:56.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-29T23:04:56.000Z
- Author: Our Reporter
- Tags: September 2026

**COLOMBO, Sri Lanka —** Japan has provided more than $447,000 for a new demining project in northern Sri Lanka, where land mines and unexploded ordnance from the civil war still restrict resettlement and economic activity more than 17 years after the fighting ended.

The $447,432 grant, equivalent to about 148 million Sri Lankan rupees, will finance humanitarian demining by the Skavita Humanitarian Assistance and Relief Project, known as SHARP, according to the Japanese Embassy in Colombo.

Akio Isomata, Japan's ambassador to Sri Lanka, and Sarath Jayawardhana, SHARP's program manager, signed the grant agreement on Tuesday.

The project is expected to clear more than 190,000 square meters, or about 47 acres, of contaminated land in the Northern Province. The embassy said the clearance would allow more than 7,000 people to return to their land and could help about 11,500 people in surrounding communities expand farming and other economic activities.

Sri Lanka's civil war lasted nearly three decades and ended in May 2009 with the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Mines and other explosive remnants of war remain in parts of the north and east, where they have delayed the return of displaced families and limited access to farmland and residential property.

Japan has funded demining in Sri Lanka since 2002, including during the war, and has provided more than $50 million for the work, according to the embassy.

Mr. Isomata said the latest grant was part of Japan's continuing support for communities affected by the conflict.

"Today's signing is another testament to Japan's commitment to continued assistance to the people of Sri Lanka, especially to those in the conflict-affected areas," he said.

He also urged Sri Lanka to broaden its sources of demining support beyond its existing international donors, calling for greater involvement by civil society, businesses and the Sri Lankan diaspora.

Mr. Isomata said faster demining, together with broader development efforts, was necessary to address economic disparities between regions.

"For sustainable development of the entire nation, we need to strengthen a holistic approach to bridge the regional gaps in economic development in the country," he said.

Mr. Jayawardhana said Japanese funding helped SHARP begin demining in 2016\. Japan was the organization's only donor from 2016 through 2021 and has remained a major source of funding since then, he said.

Sri Lanka has cleared large areas of mine-contaminated land since the war ended, but demining continues in parts of the former conflict zone, mainly in the Northern Province.