COLOMBO, Dec. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- The United National Party (UNP), Sri Lanka's opposition party, has decided to construct 5,000 new houses for those who lost their homes in the wake of the tsunami, the UNP official said Friday.

    UNP Deputy Secretary General Tissa Attanayake said his party has decided to launch this project on Jan. 7, putting into action an idea of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

    He said the UNP will channel money received from its benefactors to the fund they have set up to provide relief to the people who lost their lovers and affected by the tidal wave.

    An estimated 75,000 houses were completely damaged by the tsunami waves that ravaged the country's coast on Sunday morning. Another 21,000 houses were partially damaged.

    Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has said that the government plans to begin the reconstruction processby Jan. 15 with the help of all political parties and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

    President Kumaratunga estimated the infrastructure reconstruction in the tsunami affected areas would cost the nationnearly 1 billion US dollars, the official Daily News reported Friday. Enditem