The construction of 65,000 homes by the Indian company Arcelor Mittal will go ahead as planned and will commence within two months, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs Minister D.M.Swaminathan told the Daily Mirror.
”Reluctantly though, we have to accept one fact which is that local contractors or investors are not capable of undertaking a massive project of this magnitude. That is why we offered the tender to Arcelor Mittal which is a globally recognised multinational construction company. We also want to finish the task within the targeted time and resettle 65,000 families in two years,” Minister Swaminathan said.
On February 18, the MCSL was invited by the National Planning Department of the Sri Lankan Finance Ministry to submit a proposal for the construction of 65,000 brick and mortar houses in the North. MCSL responded enthusiastically with the relevant details, including a plan for funding from Chinese and other international banks with ADB and Sri Lankan government guarantees.
However, Indian behemoth ArcelorMittal successfully pushed its case to build pre-fabricated houses made of PVC and steel, despite severe criticism from the Northern Province Chief Minister and the Tamil National Alliance over the utter unsuitability of such houses and their high cost.
Last week TNA spokesperson MA Sumanthiran queried the tender process which awarded Arcelor Mittal the contract.
TNA MP urges transparency in Sri Lankan govt's housing project (07 Apr 2016)
Controversy over housing compromise (29 March 2016)