Friday Forum calls for halt to Prefab Steel Houses Project for war-affected

The Cabinet Decision in September 2015 that 65,000 houses be built by the Government for war- affected people was commendable. However both the manner and the consequences of the awarding of the contract to Arcelor Mittal, a multinational company building prefabricated steel houses, have rightly attracted public concern and serious criticism. 

Rising local and national opposition to this housing project has raised the following issues: transparency and haste in tendering process; manipulation by vested interests in decision-making; significantly greater cost of steel housing over conventional alternatives; colossal $ 1 billion national debt to be incurred; denial of  the secondary benefits to local construction industry and local labour that would accompany a more customary scheme; culturally and practically inappropriate design that does not match community lifestyle and preferences; unknown durability of steel housing under Sri Lankan conditions, challenges for locally-sourced maintenance by residents, and over-hasty and confusing applications processes for this scheme being implemented at district level.  

The 65,000 house construction project is one of the few substantial development projects put forward by the current Government for the war-affected Northern and Eastern Provinces. This project will also be seen as a litmus test for the Government’s commitment towards reconciliation. Imposing a deeply questionable scheme for prefabricated steel houses on some of the most vulnerable in Sri Lanka’s minority communities, risks alienating the very people it is meant to benefit, and jeopardising the Government’s reconciliation efforts. The Friday Forum calls on the Government to immediately halt this project, consult the communities concerned and systematically review the options available for suitable housing and a process of construction most beneficial to the affected communities and the public interest.

Ahilan Kadirgamar, Suriya Wickremasinghe, Dr. G. Usvatte- Aratchi

For and on behalf of:

Ananda Galappatti, Priyantha Gamage, Dr. Selvy Thiruchandran, Damaris Wickremesekera, Prof. Arjuna Aluwihare, Prof. Camena Guneratne, Bishop Duleep de Chickera, Dr. Upatissa Pethiyagoda, Shanthi Dias, Prof. Gananath Obeyesekere, Prof. Gameela Samarasinghe, Faiz-ur Rahman, Danesh Casie-Chetty, Dr. Devanesan Nesiah, Professor Savitri Goonesekere, Dr. A.C. Visvalingam, Javid Yusuf, S.C.C. Elankovan, Tissa Jayatilaka and Chandra Jayaratne.

The Friday Forum is an informal and self-financed group dedicated to democracy, good governance, human rights and the rule of law. It has for over five years sought to alert the public on issues concerning the rights of the citizen. We work on a non-partisan basis and have been critical of both the Government and Opposition.