UN-HABITAT completes Phase 2 of housing project in North

By Anuradha KODAGODA

The European Union (EU in partnership with the Australian Government, the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) and the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT), has successfully completed the second phase of the “Support to Conflict Affected People through Housing” project which was launched in January 2011.

The project will assist over 4,600 families in over 60 villages by providing permanent housing and it is estimated that over 16,000 people will benefit directly in districts of Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Mannar.

“UN-Habitat is impressed over the support extended by the Sri Lankan government towards implementing development projects we proposed in the Northern province and compared to the other Asian countries Sri Lanka has a good development plan.

It helps implement systems with less hassle. UN-HABITAT will continue to support the housing need especially in the Northern province to expedite the recovery process of the affected areas,” the Senior Human Settlements Officer UN-Habitat for Asia and the Pacific, Lalith Lankathilleke, told the Sunday Observer regarding the progress of current UN-Habitat projects and their future development plans for the country.

Excerpts of the interview:

Q: Could you briefly explain the “Support to Conflict Affected People through Housing” project and current projects that operate under UN-Habitat in Sri Lanka?

A: The ‘Support to Conflict Affected People through Housing’ is the current housing project which operates under the UN Habitat and recently we could complete the second phase of this project. With the completion of the second phase, we could hand over 3,785 houses for people in Northern province.

The project is funded by the Australian Government and there are another 3,500 houses which are funded by the European Union which started about six months ago and that project will be completed shortly.

The EU has whowed interest to fund 4,500 houses which we hope to complete this year in the Northern province.

In addition to that there is another major project that operates under the UN-HABITAT currently in Sri Lanka; one is the disaster resilience cities project which is funded by the Australian Government. We have selected four disaster prone cities such as Batticaloa, Kalmunai, Balangoda and Rathnapura.

This project aims at setting up sustainable disaster resilient and healthy cities and townships in disaster-prone regions of Sri Lanka. The cities have been selected based on vulnerability to multiple disasters, declaration as urban development areas under the UDA law which indicates potential for urban growth, and unavailability of development and land use plans.

The increase in localised disasters has necessitated a corresponding increase in disaster preparedness and response capacity at the community and local government levels. This scenario presents a unique opportunity to prepare development and land use plans taking into account climate change impacts and the need for disaster reduction as an integral part of the planning process.

Q: Talking about the housing project which operated in the Northern province, what is the criteria of selecting the beneficiaries of the project?

A: Permanent house is a basic need of every individual. During the past three decades people were deprived of housing. According to estimates, over 160,000 houses had been destroyed and 380,000 people were displaced. Due to the limited resources we have to select the most needy families for housing. Widows, disabled, female-headed households and low income people with large families. Rs.500,000 to each family to build houses.

Technical assistance including architectural designs, skilled labour purchase of good quality building materials and solving land tenure issues are provided by UN-Habitat and SDC.

The families selected under this EU/AusAID/SDC/UN-HABITAT initiative each provided support the reconstruction effort.

Building materials which are procured locally, helps revive the local economy. Communities are also being assisted to manufacture their own building materials, such as concrete blocks, through the provision of brick-making moulds and training by field technical teams.

We hope that through the projects people will develop their livelyhood and it boost the local economy.

Q: Why does the UN-Habitat funds Sri Lankan project?

A: Our mandate is to promote sustainable urban development. We work in 28 countries in Asia-Sri Lanka is a beneficiary of the UN Habitat projects.

Sri Lanka is an active member of the UN-Habitat Governing Councils.

Q: What is your view on the current development projects and the current situation in the Northern province?

A: There is a major change taking place in the Northern province which is a positive sign.

The economy is reviving in Vavunia, Killinochchi and Jaffna due to development projects and investments in the areas. Many banks have set up branches in the area. With the major construction projects in these areas, there is a good demand for labour and it creates job opportunities.

We are impressed with the programs of the government in the Northern and Eastern provinces.

Q: How do you educate people on disaster resilience?

A: We have formed community groups among the selected cities of this project and we encourage them to come up with their own disaster mitigation plan which links directly to the climate change.

There is progress especially in urban cities towards building awareness on disaster mitigation however, it is essential to provide the technical knowledge.