Tender floated for 50,000 permanent brick and mortar houses for north, east

The Government has floated tenders for the construction of 50,000 permanent brick and mortar houses for the north and east as part of resettlement and reconciliation initiative.

The move follows Cabinet approving a Memorandum submitted by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, to construct 50,000 brick and mortar houses for conflict-affected families in the Northern and Eastern provinces.  

The project is to be executed by the Ministry of National Integration and Reconciliation together with other relevant line ministries and agencies. The project was formulated under the guidance of the Northern and Eastern Provinces Development Committee and recommended by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management headed by the Prime Minister and gained the endorsement of Cabinet. The Ministry of National Integration and Reconciliation directly comes under the purview of President Maithripala Sirisena. Action was taken to call for the tenders with financing arrangements on soft terms, revealed Ministry of National Integration and Reconciliation Secretary V. Sivagnanasothy.

Already invitations for proposals have been advertised and will be open to eligible bidders and financiers. Bidders who submit proposals should also get confirmed financing arrangements from donors or financing institutions.

Members of the Parliament, district officials and civil society organisations welcomed the initiative as the proposals were acceptable to the social context of the provinces and address the long-felt needs of conflict-affected families.