MOHAMMED RASOOLDEEN
COLOMBO : President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said on Friday, April 11 that the 500 houses constructed in Norochcholai in the Ampara district, will be distributed among the deserving families who were affected by the tsunami in the region .
The president was speaking at a local government election campaign meeting in Akkaraipattu in the eastern region on Friday.
This project was designed to assist 500 families which were displaced and lost their homes as a result of the 2004 tsunami.
This housing project, funded by the Saudi Arabian government in 2009, was yet to be handed over to the intended beneficiaries.The president said that the decision has been taken to expedite the handover of these residences to the families, following discussions with the Saudi Envoy in Colombo, Khalid Hamoud Alkahtani.
In 2011, the Saudi Envoy in Colombo presented the keys to houses to then President Mahinda Rajapaksa to be allocated to the tsunami victims in the Ampara district.
However, a Court ruling had resulted in the suspension of the distribution to the intended beneficiaries, as stated by a spokesperson from the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Sri Lanka.
The project, which comprises 500 residential units, include a school, a supermarket complex, a hospital, a mosque, and various other amenities. Saudi Arabia anticipates distributing these homes to the beneficiaries at the earliest opportunity.
