Department of Valuation expedites assessment of Uma Oya damage

By Shanika Sriyananda

The Government, which has already spent over Rs. 550 million to compensate families affected by the Uma Oya Multi-purpose Development Project (UOMDP), has instructed the Department of Valuation to complete assessing the damage to property in order to expedite the payment of compensation.

Minister of Fisheries and State Minister of Mahaweli Development Mahinda Amaraweera, who met the affected families in Bandarawela last Monday, told Daily FT that the Government has taken short-term and long-term measures to resolve the issues related to the UOMDP to provide relief for affected families.

The Department of Valuation had submitted lists of houses with small cracks two years ago to pay compensation to the owners. According to Minister Amaraweera, a list of badly damaged houses has also been submitted by the regional valuation office to the respective divisional secretariats.

According to ministry sources, valuation reports for over 2,000 houses have been completed and submitted so far.

The ministerial sub-committee also includes Ministers Patali Champika Ranawaka and Vijith Vijayamuni Zoysa.

When contacted, JVP Uva Provincial Councillor Samantha Vidyarathne, who is also the convener of the People’s Front against the UOMDP, asked how the Government could make meaningful decisions to solve a disastrous situation by merely depending on the hurriedly-held and short discussions of a ministerial sub-committee which had only two members who had visited the area.

He accused the Government of continuing to mislead people who are facing impending danger.

According to Vidyarathne, thousands of people belonging to six divisional secretariat regions – Uva Paranagama, Welimada, Hali Ella, Bandarawela, Ella and Wellawaya - have become developmental refugees with no safe drinking water, housing and means of livelihood.

“Houses and public buildings which are badly cracked and damaged number 7,037. Water resources, including wells, springs and lakes, which have dried up number over 3,112 and the fertile agricultural and crop cultivations which became barren cannot be estimated as they account for over thousands of acres,” Vidyarathne said.