The Hon. (Dr.) Susil Ranasinghe

¶ 01 In Anuradhapura, 1,556 houses were initiated; only 973 are completed, yet many of those remain unoccupied. Reasons include entire villages lying in elephant corridors, forest encroachments, and land disputes. Typically, if given land and a loan/grant, people would at least settle and cultivate—even plant coconut—if no house existed. But where a house is built and still unoccupied, it is often because the recipient already has a house—hence flawed selection. This issue is nationwide. In Hambantota, we found projects inside forests; officers had to take us through elephant fences to show sites. Those who built these sit in the front row of the Opposition.

¶ 02 We have requested full information from NHDA and intend to appoint a special committee to resolve these issues: land overlaps with Wildlife/Forest Department areas, selection flaws, and loan recovery problems that have left NHDA technically bankrupt in recovering housing loans. We will seek national-level recommendations, including how to reallocate finished houses and distribute lands to the most deserving.