Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2018-04-24

Allocation of lands for 'Semata Sevana' and 'Grama Shakthi' Model Villages

When strengthening of the low income communities through socio‑economic empowerment, the Government by the implementation of the 'Semata Sevana' and 'Grama Shakthi' Model Villages programmes has taken measures to resolve their issues with regard to their basic need of housing. In order to achieve the target under the programme for the construction of 2,500 model villages by the year 2020, it is imperative that around 650 model villages are constructed annually.

For this purpose, the allocation of lands Island-wide has to be done expeditiously. Therefore, the proposal made by Hon. Sajith Premadasa, the Minister of Housing and Construction, to establish an Officials' Committee under the Co‑Chairmanship of the Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Construction and the Secretary to the Ministry of Lands and Parliamentary Reforms and comprising of the representatives of the relevant Ministries and institutions was approved by the Cabinet.