President orders faster resettlement for Kandy families hit by Cyclone Ditwah

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has directed officials to speed up resettlement and compensation for families in Kandy affected by Cyclone Ditwah.

The President gave these instructions while attending the Kandy Special District Coordinating Committee meeting held at the Kandy District Secretariat this afternoon (May 12).

During the meeting, President Dissanayake reviewed the progress of efforts to restore normalcy and rebuild infrastructure in the Kandy District following Cyclone Ditwah.

He also reviewed the process of releasing required lands at Divisional Secretariat level and instructed officials to complete the relevant work without delay while resolving the issues that have arisen.

The President separately assessed the progress of compensation payments for partially damaged houses through Divisional Secretaries.

It was revealed that 12,169 houses in the district had suffered partial damage due to the disaster. Of these, 1,583 houses are located in high-risk areas and require relocation.

Officials also said 2,304 cases have payment-related issues, while 3,795 houses are still awaiting inspections or reports from the National Building Research Institute (NBRI).

Accordingly, compensation payments can currently be processed for 4,488 houses. Payments have already been completed for 3,038 of them.

The President instructed officials to finalise payments for the remaining eligible houses without delay.

Discussions were also held on identifying land for families who need to be relocated from high-risk areas. The challenges faced in this process were also reviewed.

President Dissanayake stressed that preventing people from living in high-risk zones is a responsibility of the State and said the relevant decisions must be implemented quickly.

Special attention was also given to providing assistance for estate workers who need to be relocated from private estates.

The meeting further discussed the quick release of State-owned lands currently occupied by private companies for proposed resettlement purposes.

Officials also discussed the provision of infrastructure for resettlement housing projects, other than individual housing units.

Measures to build protective retaining structures in front of partially damaged houses that are not eligible for compensation payments were also taken up at the meeting.

Attention was also drawn to compensation for business losses and changes in construction material prices.

The President said a solution to the issue of construction material price fluctuations is expected to be presented within the coming week.

Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation K.D. Lalkantha, Central Province Governor Professor Sarath Abhayakoon, Deputy Minister of Health Hansaka Wijemuni, Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways Prasanna Gunasena, government and opposition Members of Parliament including Thanura Dissanayake, Jagath Manuwarna, E.M. Basnayake and Riyaz Farook, the Mayor of Kandy, the Chief Secretary of the Central Province and other public representatives attended the meeting.

Commissioner General of Essential Services and Chief of Staff to the President Prabath Chandrakeerthi, Kandy District Secretary Indika Udawatta, heads of relevant departments, government officials and representatives of the security forces were also present.

---

---