The Hon. Eranga Gunasekara
Eranga Gunasekara acknowledged concerns about past resettlement practices and said the Ministry is reviewing conditions in 27 high-rise housing complexes in the Colombo District, which he described as uninhabitable. He stated that two complexes are expected to be completed this year and 11 more within the next two years, benefiting over 7,000 people, while also considering social needs affecting families and children. He added that the Urban Development Authority is developing a new policy with national baseline criteria for resettling low-income earners, to be presented to Parliament.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Member, there is truth in the history you recount regarding resettlement. We are re-examining it at the Ministry level. In Colombo District alone there are 27 high-rise housing complexes. In reality, these 27 have turned into hellholes—uninhabitable. We are discussing how, during our term, to restore these 27 complexes to a livable condition.
¶ 02 We hope to complete two complexes this year and another 11 in the next two years, allowing over 7,000 persons to be housed. We are also considering, as you raised, their social needs, the impact on families and children, and resettling them in environments suited to those needs.
¶ 03 Further, through the Urban Development Authority we are formulating a new policy. If low-income earners are to be resettled, we will set national baseline criteria—covering people’s needs and access to facilities. We will bring this to Parliament in due course.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 9 June 2026 ·No. 23706 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Eranga Gunasekara. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 9 June 2026. No. 23706. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/2746