170,000 fully equipped houses for estate workers

Phased out over the next five years:

by P. Krishnaswamy

The UNF Government, in keeping with its pledge to do away with the plantation workers' line-room housing, will construct 170,000 more houses, compact with all facilities, phased over the next five years, Chairman of the Plantation Human Development Trust (PHDT), V.Puththirasigamoney, said.

The total requirement to replace the line-room houses was estimated to be 200,000 in 1993 and 30,000 houses were built since then. The houses were handed over to the workers with ownership rights to them , he added.

PHDT, which was established by the then UNP Government 20 years ago is a tripartite mechanism involving the state, the estate managements and major trade unions and the 30,000 houses were constructed on a soft loan basis, Puththirasigamoney explained.

The remaining houses will be built in the seven plantation regions of Nuwara Eliya, Hatton, Kandy, Badulla, Ratnapura, Kegalle and Galle and will be handed over to the workers. The housing projects will be named after renowned plantation trade union leaders Nadesa Iyer, Vellayan, Sundaram, Meenatchy, Ramanujam and Rajalingam.

Plans are afoot to build 50,000 houses in the near future, depending on fund allocations by the government, he said adding that the PHDT was expecting assistance from donor agencies, countries and INGOs towards achieving this target.

The 4000 houses earmarked for the plantation community under the Government of India's housing program are also coming up with lands in suitable locations identified and the projects started, Puththirasigamoney said.