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| Sunday, 15 May 2005 |
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Government takes up housing challenge After four and a half months of the tsunami disaster the government is now faced with the most challenging phase of the post-tsunami rehabilitation, the construction of permanent settlements. By May 8, 2,121 donors had pledged 93,630 permanent houses and of them 111 donors had signed MoUs for 36,630 housing units. Construction work on 5,000 units had commenced and 119 units were completed and the number is increasing daily. Task Force for Rebuilding the Nation (TAFREN) sources said that construction work on most of the permanent housing units will begin by the end of this month or early June. TAFREN officials said that lands for new settlements have already been identified. Obtaining land was the main obstacle in constructing transition and permanent houses. The problem is serious in the North and East provinces, officials said. The delay in constructing permanent houses is one of the major criticisms the government has to face. According to TAFREN officials, the time taken to settle land issues is the main reason for the delay. After the land is found, MoUs have to be signed with donors and NGOs. This too takes time to find contractors for the construction. Lack of building material is another issue. The Government has already signed MoUs with six cement suppliers for 700,000 MT of cement at discounted price. Construction work is carried out by donors, various NGOs and INGOs and not by the government. The government is only a facilitator. According to the Department of Census and Statistics 43,393 houses have been fully damaged while another 36,168 houses have been partly damaged by the disaster. Immediately after the disaster, emergency settlements were provided for 95,937 persons in 263 camps and at present the number of emergency settlements and camps has reduced significantly. In the second phase it was estimated that transitional settlements have to be provided for 30,000 families. However, TAFREN sources said that the number has now increased to 43,653 as families now living with friends and relatives prefer to move to transition settlements. According to sources 22,842 transitional housing units have been already completed while 11,858 units are under construction. Construction work on all transitional houses will be completed this month, TAFREN said. 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 8,237 households have received the first instalment of Rs. 50,000 through State banks. 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 the Hambantota district. The total cost of the project is Rs.707 million. Plan International cleared lands in five sites for housing schemes. Tender documents will be ready soon and construction work will begin by mid June, officials said. |
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