Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa called for a “revolution in the construction sector” last week, as he announced he would place his trust on the local engineers in the same manner as when the state “placed faith on the youth in the battle against terrorism”.
Speaking with members of the Institution of Engineers on Thursday, Rajapaksa announced that the “culture of assigning development projects to foreign companies will be reverted and future development programme will be entrusted upon the local engineers”.
“People in many parts of the country suffer due to lack of water for drinking and irrigation purposes. Tanks and irrigation systems have nearly collapsed. Development of the road network in rural areas should be expedited” he said in remarks made during the meeting. “My assumption to the office as the President will also become futile if I am unable to deliver the primary needs of the people of this country.”
Rajapaksa as defence secretary led a massive military offensive in his previous tenure, which led to the targeted destruction of homes, schools, and infrastructure in the North-East. Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed by Sri Lankan security forces.
Resolving the housing problem in Sri Lanka felt particularly by low and middle-income workers might be benefited by the contributions of construction companies and engineers attached to the project.
According to data collected by the United Nations, approximately 160,000 houses were either damaged or destroyed in the Northern Province alone, reports Habitat for Humanity.
Secure and permanent housing is also worsened by poverty, natural disasters and a military presence which impinges on local livelihoods, leaving families internally displaced and still living in tin sheet shacks.
Photograph: A home in Vavuniya fowhere villagers were on the verge of dying from starvation earlier this year, as the government continues to neglect on providing support.
