Conditional approval for 10,000 prefab houses in North

The Cabinet has granted conditional approval to French steel giant ArcelorMittal to build 10,000 prefabricated houses for the war-affected in Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts, a senior official said.

“It was decided that 10,000 houses could be erected in the two districts, provided that the people wanted them,” the official explained. Resettlement Minister D. M. Swaminathan confirmed to the Sunday Times that the specified number of 10,000 dwellings had been sanc- tioned but this newspaper learns the approval is conditional.

The Minister has been pushing for the project— initially numbered at 65,000 steel prefabricated houses from ArcelorMittal at an estimated US$ 1 billion— since mid- 2015. However, progress has been slow due to strong resistance from civil society, housing experts and local and national politicians including all Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians. Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran and the Jaffna District Coordinating Committee are also against the project.

On Th u r s d ay, M i n i s t e r Swaminathan summoned the three Government Agents of Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi to his office in Colombo. He informed them that President Maithripala Sirisena had said the houses could go ahead if there was a demand for them among the intended beneficiaries. He said he would carry advertisements in newspapers seeking feedback.

“He has been directed by the President to ask the people their choice,” said TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran, who has spoken out in Parliament and in public against prefabricated steel houses for the North and East. “He has said he will advertise. We will check to see how this inquiry is carried out. If the people are asked whether they want a house, they will say ‘ yes’. Even if they are asked if they want a prefab house, they will say ‘yes’.”

“People will have to be given the choice between a masonry house and a prefab house,” he said. “If that is not done, we will challenge the process.”

On the ground, Minister Swaminathan continues to champion the controversial project.