Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2018-05-22

Construction of 40,000 permanent houses for the low income families resettled in the Northern and Eastern Provinces

- When providing a permanent solution to the housing problems of the displaced and affected persons due to the conflict which existed in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka, a large scale housing project has to be implemented with the intervention of the Government. The proposal made prior to this for the construction of 65,000 prefabricated houses for the purpose was not implemented due to the opposition of certain parties. The recommendation made by the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) for the construction of houses using the concrete panel technology, as an alternative has been acclaimed by the people and the Political Representatives of those areas.

Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. D.M. Swaminathan, the Minister of Resettlement, Rehabilitation, Northern Development & Hindu Religious Affairs, to construct 40,000 permanent houses of 650 sq.ft. for the low income families resettled in the Northern and Eastern areas using the concrete panel technology, within a period of two (02) years, was approved by the Cabinet.