HSBC loans Rs. 10 million for Kirulapone Slum Upgrading Project

HSBC today signed a loan agreement with the South Asia Partnership Sri Lanka (SAPSRI) to assist in the upgrading of housing improvements, housing infrastructure and community infrastructure of two communities from Kirulapone. The Kirulapone Project is an area upgrading project supported by the UN-HABITAT's Slum Upgrading Facility (SUF).

The project is designed to assist the Government to lead and coordinate technical cooperation and seed capital initiatives to develop bankable projects that promote affordable housing for low-income households.

SUF is being piloted in four countries in Asia and Africa with Sri Lanka being one of these four countries. Initiating the first SUF project in Sri Lanka, the advisor for SUF Michael Mutter said, "Slum upgrading is incredibly complex, and yet, it is a problem that needs our most urgent attention. For the vibrant cities in Sri Lanka to truly be homes for all, it is crucial that we work with the communities that live in informal settlements. To make the biggest difference, we also need strong support from the government and active involvement from the private sector". The central objective of SUF is to assist developing countries to attract domestic capital for their slum upgrading and related infrastructure activities. Talking on the slums in Sri Lanka, the SUF Country Coordinator for UN Habitat Ms. Ayanthi Gurusinghe said, "Slums are neglected parts of cities where housing and living conditions are appallingly lacking proper facilities and they are growing at alarming rates. They are the products of failed policies, bad governance and unresponsive financial systems. But with the support of the Government LFSUS intends to provide feasible solutions to make low income settlers bankable". The Kirulapone project, involves the two settlements of Kirulapura and Siddharthapura and these are located in the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) area. These two settlements are already upgraded settlements from an earlier upgrading plan.

But there are certain areas within the settlements that need to be upgraded.