Wednesday, 8th October 2014.
Sandun A. Jayasekera
Sri Lanka can claim with her head held high that it was the only country in the region that has fulfilled the goals of the Habitat Commission of the UN with a target to make Sri Lanka a country without slums by 2016, President Mahinda Rajapaksa stressed. He vowed that the government would see to it that there will not be a single family living in a slum by 2016.
Delivering the keynote address at the main ceremony on ‘World Habitat Day’ sponsored by the Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities Ministry at the Sugathadasa Stadium, President Rajapaksa said that the UNHRC that was now being influenced and agitated upon by the anti Sri Lanka Tamil Diaspora, led by those who fled the country during the conflict saying that Sri Lanka was not safe enough to live in, never talk about the restoration of civil administration, development, peace and reconciliation work that had prevailed in Sri Lanka after the end of the war.
While various UN committees commend Sri Lanka on its achievements, the Human Rights Council of the world body based in Geneva has made it a habit to criticise Sri Lanka on its human rights record overlooking the progress made in post conflict Sri Lanka, President Rajapaksa said.
The first government intervention for housing in Sri Lanka happened in 1915 when the British introduced the ‘Housing and Urban Development Act’. However, little attention was directed at the construction of houses by state after gaining independence as the priority was given to develop agriculture and create farmer colonies.
