'New York Village' for tsunami victims in Ambalangoda

AMBALANGODA: Minister of Urban Development and Water Supply Dinesh Gunawardena will lay the foundation for 'New York Village' at Talgasgoda, Ambalangoda on Saturday, November 11.

The Village will consist of fifty houses, a playground, a day care centre, a Sunday School, IT Centre and other amenities and will be a 'Habitat' specially designed by architect/engineer Navin Gunaratne.

Chairman, Urban Development Authority, General Prasanna Dahanayake commended the concept of having a playground and other amenities being incorporated into the village as tsunami housing did not mean building houses alone, but providing all possible facilities to the tsunami victims.

The 'New York Village' will be funded by a generous grant from the New York Buddhist Vihara Foundation, and is another effort by Project Phoenix to provide housing to families that lost their homes to the tsunami in December 2004.

President of Project Phoenix, K. Jivinda de Silva, a Lankan living in New York, said his was a small voluntary organisation consisting of Sri Lankan professionals, working without any administrative costs, to provide relief to tsunami victims, initiated by late Professor P.P.G.L. Siriwardene, the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ceylon, who was its founder President.

From providing food, clothing and medicines to the tsunami victims in camps in the early months, the organisation evolved to provide housing. To date Project Phoenix has constructed over 75 houses from Moratuwa to Matara and most of them are already occupied.

A small development by Project Phoenix called 'Staten Island Village' consisting of 21 houses, a playground, a community centre and IT Centre at Wadduwa is nearing completion.