40,000 prefabricated concrete houses for north

Thursday, 24 May 2018 01:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

UN agencies and non-profits to build 25,000 more

Cabinet yesterday green-lighted a proposal to build 40,000 prefabricated houses for Internally-Displaced People (IDPs) in the north and the east using concrete panels.

The houses will be 650 square feet each and will be a deviation from a previous plan to build prefabricated steel houses for war-affected people in the north.

The Government had earlier proposed to build steel prefabricated houses, which was opposed by civic groups in the area, who said such houses were unsuitable for the living conditions and requirements of people in the north.

Resettlement and Rehabilitation Minister D. M. Swaminathan had instead proposed the building of 40,000 houses under a plan to build 65,000 houses using concrete panels. Swaminathan had come under severe fire before for supporting international steel giant ArcelorMittal to build prefabricated steel houses that were estimated to cost about $1 billion.

Instead the concrete panel houses had been recommended by the National Building Research Organization, Cabinet had been told. However, the company behind the prefabricated concrete structures was not announced.

Cabinet had also separately approved a proposal by UN agencies and a non-profit organisation to build 25,000 for war refugees in the north and the east.

The steel dwellings were proposed by ArcelorMittal which first applied in 2015 to put up 65,000 houses. The proposal is backed by Minister Swaminathan, but has been rejected by a Cabinet Appointed Negotiating Committee, the Tamil National Alliance, the Northern Provincial Council, District Coordinating Committees, the Parliamentary Sectoral Oversight Committee, a team appointed by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management, local officials and civil society groups.