Assistance for flood-affected persons:

Enhanced services from NHDA

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

The National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) has made arrangements to renovate and reconstruct the houses which were partially damaged or completely destroyed by the recent floods.

According to a survey conducted by the NHDA, 2,771 houses have been partially damaged while 521 houses have been completely destroyed due to the floods, NHDA Chairman Jayantha Samaraweera told the Sunday Observer. On a directive of the Housing, Construction, Engineering Services and Common Amenities Minister Wimal Weerawansa, the NHDA conducted this survey in all flood-affected areas with the assistance of its District Managers attached to NHDA district offices, he said.

The NHDA will commence the renovation and reconstruction of these flood affected houses from next week.

The intention of the NHDA is to complete this task as soon as possible by assisting the people to resettle in their homes within a short period, he added.

Meanwhile the NHDA will introduce a new housing consultancy service from next month and provide a lasting solution to the problems which had hampered people obtaining housing loans from banks due to shortcomings in the current system.

As a remedy, the NHDA has decided to provide consultancy services to people who have faced various hardships in obtaining a housing loan from a bank.

The NHDA would mainly provide this as a service to the people, Samaraweera said.On a directive by Minister Weerawansa, the NHDA has decided to draft the documents necessary to obtain a housing loan from a State or private bank within a short period, he said.

The NHDA will also recommend a suitable housing loan scheme which would enable a person to obtain loans based on his/her income level, he said.

Meanwhile, the NHDA architects will assist the people to draw up their housing plans within a relatively a short period, he said.

According to Samaraweera, a housing loan application has to go through nearly 17 stages before its final approval.

This has completely demoralised the people interested in obtaining housing loans to construct permanent shelter.