COLOMBO, Jan 3: The Sri Lankan government has decided to ban the construction of hotels or houses within one hundred metres from the coast as a precaution against another tsunami attack.

"One hundred metres from the coast will be declared as a reservation. Construction of new buildings and effecting repairs to existing buildings in that reservation will be strictly prohibited," Chairman of the Urban Development Authority, Gemunu Silva, said.

He said that housing schemes would be started for the victims in the interior of the country. However, the Tourism Ministry is to fight against the destroying of the existing hotels along the coastal belt which are to be affected by this new policy decision.

"We are trying to get the Urban Development Authority to change its stance regarding the hotels not harmed by the tidal waves, which are already located quite close to the sea.

"There are 63 such hotels which have been in the tsunami regions but were not destroyed. According to the decision so far all these hotels, and others not in the tsunami areas but in the coastal regions, are to be razed to the ground and relocated," a top ranking official of the Tourism Ministry said, stating that the Tourism Ministry has not agreed to this decision by the Urban Development Authority.

Overall the decree to relocate the hotels located close to the coast are to affect over 1,000 tourist spots. Sources at the Tourism Ministry admitted that the loss to the industry will be further heightened by the relocation of the hotels to landlocked areas.

"We have lost billions in the tourism trade owing to the tsunami. We want to minimize further loss and be practical about our decisions. We will present a detailed list of precautions that can be taken including setting up of meteorological substations in certain areas in the coast," the Tourism Ministry representative said.