KIGALI, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Rwandan government spent about 235 million U.S. dollars on natural disaster relief between January and June this year, the largest amount for such a period in a year, a senior Rwandan official said Monday.

The money was used to provide the most affected with shelter, food aid, medical assistance and protection of their properties, as well as restore affected infrastructure including schools and bridges, Rwandan minister of disaster management De bonheur Jeanne d' Arc told Xinhua in a phone interview.

People residing in high risk areas across the country are being relocated to safe places in organized and planned model villages in order to mitigate disasters caused by landslides, she said, calling on Rwandan people to respect disaster mitigation measures put in place.

At least 234 people lost their lives and 268 people sustained injuries in natural disasters caused by heavy rains, floods, landslides and lightning across Rwanda from January to October this year, the ministry's assessment released last Friday showed.

The damage caused by natural disasters on the same period included destruction of 15,264 houses, 9,412 hectares of crops and death of 797 livestock, according to the assessment.