TNA rejects steel houses, calls for brick

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) yesterday wrote to the President and Prime Minister saying they are “totally opposed to pre-fabricated steel houses” and called for civilians in the North and East to be provided with traditional brick houses in keeping with their culture and way of life.

The letter was signed by all sixteen parliamentarians of the TNA. It said they were dismayed to find that Rehabilitation and Resettlement Minister D.M. Swaminathan had made personal telephone calls to several of them inviting them to make requests for prefabricated houses in their respective electorates.

The TNA had opposed the Minister’s proposal for 65,000 prefabricated steel houses by ArcelorMittal for reasons of climatic unsuitability, flimsy construction, lack of durability, unjustifiable high cost, etc. The houses were priced at Rs 2.1 million each.

“We nevertheless made it very clear that our people desperately needed houses but that they should be masonry houses which will cost less than half of the proposed prefabricated houses,” the MPs said. “We also worked with a group of civil society agencies and persons who generously contributed their time and expertise and forwarded an alternate proposal to be funded by a consortium of local banks.”

This proposal envisaged the construction of 102,000 masonry houses at a cost of just under Rs. 1 million per house and utilising local labour which would provide livelihood to a large number of people for a period of about four years.

“The Sectoral Oversight Committee on Rehabilitation took a unanimous decision on 10.11.2016 to reject the proposal to construct prefabricated steel houses and endorsed the alternate proposal put forward by civil society,” the letter continued. “We also bring to your notice that the District Coordinating Committee of Jaffna District also passed a unanimous decision on 27.09.2016 rejecting the prefabricated steel houses.”

The Parliamentary Group of TNA met on 11 November, and “unanimously decided to address this communication to you, so that you will become aware that all of us are totally opposed to prefabricated steel houses and that people be provided with the traditional brick houses in keeping with their culture and way of life.”