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Urban Development and Housing Ministry awaits Kajeemawatta report

20 Oct 2022

  • Prasanna Ranatunga says another committee needed to implement PM-appointed committee’s recommendations
BY Dinitha Rathnayake    The Ministry of Urban Development and Housing is awaiting the final decision of the committee appointed by Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena to probe the fire that broke out at the Kajeemawatta housing complex in Thotalanga, Modara, recently, in order to take a final decision regarding the affected residents.   A ministry official, speaking to The Morning, said that the Premier, at the Colombo Co-ordination Committee meeting held on 28 September, had instructed that a final report on the same be prepared as soon as possible. Gunawardena had stated that as information has been revealed that the Kajeemawatta housing complex has caught fire thrice within a period of one and a half years, the investigation reports of those incidents should also be taken into consideration when preparing the final report. The report has since been handed over to Gunawardena. Gunawardena had also informed the Urban Development Authority (UDA) to report whether there is a possibility to refrain from using the Kajeemawatta complex, which belongs to the UDA, as a temporary, intermediate settlement in the process of making permanent settlements. Since it has been revealed that there are many illegal settlements at this location, he had requested a probe into this matter. Meanwhile, Minister of Urban Development and Housing Prasanna Ranatunga stated that a separate committee, headed by the Colombo District Secretary, should be set up to solve the issues arising in Kajeemawatte, and that subsequent decisions should be based on the report of the committee appointed by the Premier in considering the steps to be taken with regard to the fires and the illegal settlements in this location. It was revealed at this meeting that the relief required by those displaced, including food, temporary accommodation, and items needed for schoolchildren, have been provided with immediate effect through the intervention of the Colombo District Secretariat. Meanwhile, 214 residents of Kajeemawatta have been identified as not meeting the minimum criteria required to obtain Government housing.


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