Houses for Colombo's slum-dwellers

The Government will construct 60,000 houses to relocate the slum-dwellers in the capital Colombo. Leader of the House, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told Parliament last week that these houses would be built as flats.

The first phase of the housing project has already commenced in Dematagoda.Responding to a statement by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe under Standing Orders in Parliament, Minister de Silva said the slum-dwellers would not be removed from Colombo, but would be provided with housing at an alternative location.

He said only slum-dwellers in the Slave Island area were compensated for removal and they also would be provided with houses if they consent to such.

He said the small businesses removed from the Malay Street would be relocated in the ground and first floors of the housing complex built on the same street.According to Government sources, slum-dwellers comprise nearly 54 percent of Colombo's population, taking up nearly 1,000 acres of prime land in the city illegally, not only draining the resources of the city, but also becoming a serious nuisance to citizens and also impeding development.