Govt. to build homes for 15,000 poor families

By Uditha Jayasinghe

The Government is planning to build homes for 15,000 low income families in the capital this year as part of an extensive metro development program.

Defence and Urban Development Ministry Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa told a conference organised by the World Bank yesterday that the Sri Lankan Government was implementing a wide-ranging development project in Colombo that would include the relocation of 70,000 families.

“We are in the process of building 10,000 apartments contained in high rise buildings and 15,000 more are planned for 2012. It is a very expensive process,” he said, but failed to mention a timeline or from where the funding for such a giant project would come.

He pointed out that maintenance of the high rise buildings would also be up to the Government and posed a challenge in terms of sustainability. Relocated families also find it hard to adjust to new surroundings, making the transition a hard one for the Government to effect.

Ministry data shows that of the 700,000 estimated residents in Colombo, 43 per cent live in around 6,000 slums scattered across the city. They occupy some of the most valuable public land, which the Government hopes to hand over to private companies once the relocation is complete.

Several key lands have already been cleared, such as the St. John’s Fish Market, which will soon become the venue for a bullion exchange, and Rajapaksa outlined plans to shift the Manning Market to Peliyagoda as well.

The World Bank recently approved a loan of US$ 213 million to upgrade infrastructure and reduce flooding in parts of the metro area but work is yet to begin. The loan is also to be used to undertake a feasibility plan for a garbage disposal mechanism. Increasing green cover and rehabilitating lakes and canals is also part of the project.