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Q.403 Construction of houses in Sri Lanka
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.403
TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.11.2011
SHRI A. K. S. VIJAYAN:
SHRI M. B. RAJESH:
Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:
(a) whether it is true that even 5% of houses for rehabilitating Tamils have not been constructed in Northern Sri Lanka even after about three years of India’s extending financial assistance;
(b) if so, the reasons therefor alongwith the progress of work made so far; and
(c) the details of the mechanism put in place to monitor and expedite the progress of the work and the utilisation of financial assistance rendered by the Government of India to Sri Lanka?
ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SMT. PRENEET KAUR)
(a) & (b) On 9 June 2010, the Prime Minister of India and the President of Sri Lanka announced an initiative to undertake a programme of construction of 50,000 houses for Internally Displaced Persons in the Northern and Eastern Provinces in Sri Lanka. As a part of this initiative, a Pilot Project for the construction of 1,000 houses in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka commenced in April, 2011 with Hindustan Prefab Limited as the Project Management Consultant (PMC). As per available information, of the 1000 houses, work has started on around 800 houses, on sites made available by the Government of Sri Lanka. Of these, approximately 100 houses are fully complete and ready to be handed over, 350 houses are complete up to the roof level and 350 houses are under various stages of construction. The Government of Sri Lanka has to undertake jungle clearance before handing over the remaining sites. Work has also been hindered as many sites have to be de-mined before starting actual construction and due to lack of electricity and other infrastructural facilities at the construction sites.
(c) The High Commission of India in Colombo and the Consulate General of India in Jaffna are regularly monitoring the progress of work, including through regular review meetings with the executing agencies, periodic inspections of the constructions sites and discussions with the concerned authorities within the Government of Sri Lanka. The progress of work was also reviewed by the Foreign Secretary during his visit to Sri Lanka in October, 2011. In addition the Ministry of External Affairs also holds regular meetings with the executing agencies to review the progress of work. A Consultant has also been appointed for monitoring the progress of work in the Housing Project.