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| Tuesday, 27 April 2004 |
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The poorest families affected by the North-East conflict will get an opportunity to reconstruct their houses under the proposed North East Housing Reconstruction Program (NEHRP), the World Bank said yesterday. The World Bank has provided initially US$ 1.5 million to help design the proposed program, while the Japanese Trust Fund will finance a land survey, environmental impact assessment, and a social impact assessment for US$ 440,000. The program will facilitate the reconstruction of houses damaged by the North-East conflict where 326,000 houses have been affected by the conflict. This will begin to meet the housing needs of a vulnerable and economically weak group affected in the 20-year ethnic conflict. It is anticipated that this could lead to a World Bank credit of some US$ 75 million later in the year. "Addressing the key concerns of the right to shelter is an important factor in securing a sustainable peace," said Peter Harrold, World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka. "The upcoming program will provide housing assistance, capacity building measures and support for overall program management. It will target vulnerable groups beneath the poverty threshold to help rebuild their shattered lives." The housing assistance component will finance the Government's housing reconstruction scheme with a grant of Rs. 110,000 or a part thereof to each family below the Rs. 2,500 monthly income threshold intended to help rebuild or repair their damaged houses. Project-related environment and social issues will be assessed during the course of the preparation using the Japanese Trust Fund grant. The Capacity Building Measures component will include technical assistance to ensure construction standards, provide support to village rehabilitation committees, make sure social and environmental safeguards are followed, develop micro-finance options, and strengthen the construction industry providing technical support. This component will also initiate sector work in order to pave the way for the development of a sustainable housing finance mechanism in the North East. The Support for Overall Program Management component will finance the technical expertise in the North East Housing Reconstruction Unit, the incremental operating costs of the unit, and the costs incurred in supervising program implementation. The proposed project fits in with direction of the World Bank's Country Assistance Strategy for Sri Lanka and supports the Sri Lanka Government and other stakeholders in achieving the vision set out in its poverty reduction strategy. A comprehensive needs assessment for the North East, prepared with Asian Development Bank, World Bank and United Nations support in May 2003, showed that 326,000 houses are damaged. Informal surveys in the North East suggest that most residents view the restoration of their homes as a key development priority. |
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