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. |