Cabinet approves 971 permanent houses to resettle IDPs in welfare camps

The need to immediately resettle all IDPs in the welfare camps has been emphasised by President Maithripala Sirisena at a high level meeting held on 16 June. This meeting was also attended by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Minister of Finance. 

Currently, there are 31 welfare centres in the Jaffna district and 971 internally displaced families are in these camps. As the Government intends to resettle all IDPs in the welfare camps and close down the welfare camps soon in 2016, it was decided to provide housing programs on a priority basis to resettle the IDPs currently in the welfare camps. The 31 welfare camps in Jaffna district already have 971 IDP families, of which, 641 IDP families are landless, said Ministry of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs Secretary V. Sivagnanasothy.

On the submission of Cabinet Memorandum by Minister Swaminathan, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the construction of 971 permanent houses on an immediate basis to the IDP families in the welfare camps as directed by the President at the meeting held on 16 June. The proposed housing program will be implemented under the GOSL budget and will be implemented through an ‘owner driven’ housing program through the District Secretary and Divisional Secretaries, said Sivagnanasothy.

Approval of the Cabinet of Ministers has been granted on 20 July for the construction of 971 permanent houses for the IDP families in the welfare centres at a cost of Rs. 1million per housing unit (Rs. 800,000 for basic housing unit and Rs. 200,000 for other infrastructure facilities including land clearance). These 971 permanent houses have been approved in addition to the 10,030 houses already approved by the Government. The approval to construct these houses by the Government indicates the commitment towards durable solutions and priority for reconciliation said Sivagnanasothy.