Wheels move to stop sale of land given to slum dwellers

Mohammed Naalir

Special laws will be implemented to end the sale of houses given to slum dwellers in Colombo city under the urban development project, Housing and Common Amenities Minister Ferial Ashraff said.

She said slum dwellers who acquired new houses under the urban development project tend to sell them and continue to stay in their previous temporary houses and slums.

Ashraff was speaking after handing over the ownership of 797 housing units to slum dwellers in Borella. She said such activities of beneficiaries would hamper the urban development activities implemented by the Government.

"The National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) under the guidance of the Housing and Common Amenities Ministry has implemented several slum upgrading programmes in the Colombo City", she said. Ashraff said such housing development programmes implemented under the urban development programme will provide a better life to slum dwellers.

Shanties and temporary houses within the Colombo city are a major obstacle for development activities carried out by the Government in the City, she said. Ashraff pointed out that the Mahinda Chinthana stresses the necessity of providing housing facilities for all under the urban development programme.

Unless slums and temporary houses in the Colombo city were developed, the real aim of the urban development programme would not be achieved, she said.

Urban Development and Sacred Area Development Minister Dinesh Gunawardane said the allocation of 797 houses for slum dwellers in Borella area is a milestone for the Government's urban development programme.

The urban development programme has been implemented on President Mahinda Rajapaksa's advice to give a helping hand to those living below the poverty line.

President Rajapaksa has appointed a committee comprising Ministers to regularise the administration system of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC). The committee will help the CMC to implement its policies, he said.