The Hon. J.C. Alawathuwala

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Deputy Chairperson. Hon. Ravi Karunanayake’s Private Member’s Motion, “Providing a house for every family in Sri Lanka to live in,” is timely. The statistics show nearly half a million families live without proper housing, especially acute in urban peripheries of Colombo and Gampaha. Over 60,000 low-income families in Colombo live in slum conditions. The past high-rise programme started to address this, because urban land prices are very high.

¶ 02 Therefore, a well-designed high-rise housing programme for low-income communities is essential. We must also acknowledge the historic role of President Ranasinghe Premadasa, who as Housing Minister and then as President scaled housing production significantly, including initiating the high-rise concept in Colombo. Yet today many still lack homes; for many, owning a house has become a dream. The private sector’s apartments are unaffordable to most. Government employees and private workers alike struggle. We need a new programme, including for middle and upper-middle segments. As land is limited, especially in rural areas too, we must shift from plot-based to vertical housing nationwide. Many countries have solved this thus. Without an accelerated programme like a “fast-track” for housing, more people will leave the country because they cannot solve basic issues like housing. I therefore support this Motion. Thank you.

¶ 03 Question proposed.