President to visit Jaffna today to hand over houses, release lands

Under the direction of President Maithripala Sirisena, 10,000 houses are under construction in the Northern and Eastern Provinces and are expected to be completed by December 2016. 

A further 10,000 houses were approved by the Cabinet in October 2016 and preliminary activities have commenced, making a total of 20,000 houses for the conflict-affected communities in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. 

The  Ministry of  Prisons Reform, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs  has initiated the construction of a 100-unit housing village through the Sri Lanka Army facilitated by the District Secretariat in Keerimalai in the Tellippalai Divisional Secretariat known as  Nilenakkapuram (Reconciliation Village), said V. Sivagnanasothy, the Secretary to the Ministry of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs

These houses are to be handed over to 100 landless families in the welfare camps on 31 October by the President as a gesture of reconciliation and permanent peace. Following the discussion by the President, a Cabinet paper was submitted by the Minister of Resettlement and 42 acres of unused land of the KKS Cement Corporation was released for the housing program, with the Sri Lanka Army accelerating the project’s implementation in cooperation with the District Secretary. 

Furthermore, on the same day, the President is also expected to release 454 acres of private land, which was held by the Sri Lanka Army, back to the original owners who were displaced.

The 454 acres includes land in KKs West, KKS South, KKS Centre, Thaiyidy, Thaiyidy South and Thaiyidy East. 

Immediately after the release of lands, the Ministry of Prisons will initiate action to provide housing programs to resettle the community. All these processes demonstrate the commitment of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to establish a sustainable reconciliation and permanent peace in the country, said Ministry Secretary V. Sivagnanasothy.  

Minister of Resettlement D.M. Swaminathan and Northern Province Chief Minister C.V Vigneswaran, State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran, Northern Province Governor Reginald Cooray and other Provincial Council Ministers and members including Defence Secretary Eng. Karunasena Hettiarachchi and District Secretary N. Vethanayakam are expected to be present at the occasion.