Cabinet approves Rs. 5 m housing scheme for estate workers hit by Cyclone Ditwah

Wednesday, 8 April 2026 04:16 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Minister Vijitha Herath

The Government has approved a dedicated housing program to support estate sector workers whose homes were damaged or deemed unsafe following the impact of Cyclone Ditwah, addressing a gap in earlier relief measures.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal, jointly submitted by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in his capacity as the Finance Minister and Plantation and Community Infrastructure Minister Samantha Vidyarathna, to provide up to Rs. 5 million per household in stages to construct new homes for affected workers.

The move aims at improving housing security among vulnerable estate communities while ensuring safer resettlement in disaster-prone areas, as part of broader recovery efforts following Cyclone Ditwah.

While existing circulars issued in the aftermath of the cyclone facilitated housing assistance, it did not specifically cover estate communities, many of whom faced severe damage from floods, landslides and related natural disasters.

“Under the new program, eligible workers employed in estates managed by plantation companies will receive financial support to build a 650 square foot house, in line with guidelines issued by the Defence Ministry,” Minister Vijitha Herath said at the weekly post-Cabinet meeting media briefing yesterday.

He said the scheme will prioritise families whose houses have been fully destroyed, identified as being at high risk from landslides, partially damaged, or certified as uninhabitable due to age.

In addition, plantation companies are required to allocate a 10-perch plot of land in a safe location within the estate for the construction of these houses. In cases where a worker is no longer employed on the estate, the program allows for the house to be built either on land owned by the worker or on land purchased using the Government’s financial assistance.