Houses presented to 50 families in Keppapilawu:

TNA's canard debunked again

by P. Krishnaswamy

The TNA's outcry on the Keppapilawu village resettlement issue has now been proved as another political play with ulterior motives, Rehabilitation Minister Gunaratne Weerakoon, told the Sunday Observer . He was in Mullaitivu last week to present 50 houses to homeless families.

The TNA held several protest campaigns and made statements to the local and international media saying that the Government had let the 165 families of Keppapilawu village in the lurch after acquiring their land for the Security Forces. But the people in the village have happily accepted the houses that were handed over to them in a model village, he said.

These housing units are equipped with all facilities and road networks. The first 50 houses were constructed at a cost of about Rs. 18.75 million, he said adding that he had also laid the foundation stones to build houses for the remaining families. Rs.39.75 million has been already allocated for the second phase of the housing project, he said.

The Security Forces did the land reclamation and construction work free, he said.

Minister Weerakoon said that on the instructions of President Mahinda Rajapaksa his Ministry was focusing attention on the rehabilitation and resettlement of all families with the provision of houses for homeless families. Since the defeat of LTTE terrorism in May 2009 the Government had resettled over 385,000 displaced families. He invited TNA parliamentarians, journalists and others to visit the village and see for themselves the facilities provided for the families, he said.