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| Sunday, 1 May 2005 |
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Permanent houses for tsunami affected people by Gamini Warushamana Construction work on permanent houses for tsunami affected people has begun and we will be able to achieve the set target and complete over 80% of the work by the end of the year, said Chairman of the Task Force for Rebuilding the Nation (TAFREN) Mano Tittawela. Addressing a media conference last week Tittawela said that construction work on over 19,000 transition houses has been completed and by the end of May the 30,000 target will be completed. Obtaining land is the main obstacle for the rapid progress of the construction of transition and permanent houses. The problem is serious in the North and East provinces but the problem is now being resolved. After the land is found , MoUs have to be signed with donors and NGOs. They too need time to find contractors for the construction. Lack of building material is another issue, he said. Construction of permanent houses is the major challenge. Construction work is carried out by donors, various NGOs and INGOs and not by the government. The government is only the facilitator. Tittawella said that construction work on large number of houses will begin this month and June. According to the latest figures published by the Department of Census and Statistics the number of fully or partly damaged houses is 77,561. However 194 donors have pledged to construct about 97,000 permanent housing units. The government has already signed 159 MoUs with 71 donors to construct 34,000 housing units. Construction work on 2,325 permanent housing units have already started and the number is increasing daily. Based on the reports of the damaged assessment teams and the extent of the damage the government provided Rs.100,000 and Rs.250,000 grants to families to construct houses. So far 5,476 eligible households have received the first instalment of Rs.50,000 through state banks. However, according to the report from the Batticaloa districts the situation in the Eastern province is worse. The Batticaloa district requires 11,160 transition settlements but only 2,880 have been provided. In the Jaffna district 3,371 transitional housing units are required but only 1,859 have been provided. Essential Service Commissioner General Thilak Ranaviraja said that demand for transition housing units is increasing as families now living with relatives and friends prefer to move to transition settlements. Plan International has signed an MoU with the government to construct 1,200 permanent housing units in the Hambantota district. Another 200 individual houses will be constructed on their own lands outside the buffer zone in Hambantota district. The total cost of the project is Rs.707 million. |
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