Chariya
May 27th, 2010, 04:46 PM
To tell you the truth I was really concerned about this as well, what ever the government seems to do they only seem to be focused on one side of the story and almost on all occasions they just make the problem even worse or leave it for someone in the future to deal with. No wonder we have accumulated such a load of rubbish to cleanout!!
Govt. under fire for encouraging squatters
The government is under pressure to review its policy with regard to squatters evicted from one part of Colombo being relocated within the city.
A senior official said the government had no option but to end that practice immediately and work out a plan to gradually move them out.
Responding to a query by The Island, he asserted that the practice adopted by successive governments, including the incumbent administration, was nothing but a farce.
He said: "Those who forcibly occupied state land are being given valuable land elsewhere in Colombo. The very principle of this arrangement is wrong. A recent case in point is the shifting of over 200 squatter families from Slave Island to Dematagoda, where a single housing unit will cost the taxpayer about Rs. 2.5 million. Can anything be as ridiculous as this?"
On the other hand, the government had allocated about one million rupees for the construction of a single housing unit for security forces personnel under the Api Wenuwen Api programme, though the actual overall cost for each unit would be about Rs. 2.4 million when funds spent on infrastructure development, too, were taken into consideration.
The official said the government was finding it difficult to continue with the housing project at Ipologama, Anuradhapura, whereas taxpayers’ money was being squandered to ‘pamper’ squatters.
The official emphasised that concerned ministries and other agencies, including the Urban Development Authority (UDA) should formulate a strategy to discourage squatters, though at the moment they were being handsomely rewarded for the forcible occupation of State land.
According to a survey conducted a few years ago, there had been 66,000 squatter families in Colombo and its suburbs.
The official said the number of squatters had increased over the past few years mainly due to politicians and officials turning a blind eye.
According to him, some politicians representing Colombo had encouraged squatters on the basis they would strengthen their vote base.
Sources said that among the squatters were those from the Northern and Eastern provinces.
Squatters from the North and East as well as others could be resettled in areas outside the city and its suburbs, the official said. The government could explore the possibility of gradually moving them out of the city to the provinces as part of their strategy to discourage squatters, he said.
Island (http://www.island.lk/2010/05/27/news1.html)
Govt. under fire for encouraging squatters
The government is under pressure to review its policy with regard to squatters evicted from one part of Colombo being relocated within the city.
A senior official said the government had no option but to end that practice immediately and work out a plan to gradually move them out.
Responding to a query by The Island, he asserted that the practice adopted by successive governments, including the incumbent administration, was nothing but a farce.
He said: "Those who forcibly occupied state land are being given valuable land elsewhere in Colombo. The very principle of this arrangement is wrong. A recent case in point is the shifting of over 200 squatter families from Slave Island to Dematagoda, where a single housing unit will cost the taxpayer about Rs. 2.5 million. Can anything be as ridiculous as this?"
On the other hand, the government had allocated about one million rupees for the construction of a single housing unit for security forces personnel under the Api Wenuwen Api programme, though the actual overall cost for each unit would be about Rs. 2.4 million when funds spent on infrastructure development, too, were taken into consideration.
The official said the government was finding it difficult to continue with the housing project at Ipologama, Anuradhapura, whereas taxpayers’ money was being squandered to ‘pamper’ squatters.
The official emphasised that concerned ministries and other agencies, including the Urban Development Authority (UDA) should formulate a strategy to discourage squatters, though at the moment they were being handsomely rewarded for the forcible occupation of State land.
According to a survey conducted a few years ago, there had been 66,000 squatter families in Colombo and its suburbs.
The official said the number of squatters had increased over the past few years mainly due to politicians and officials turning a blind eye.
According to him, some politicians representing Colombo had encouraged squatters on the basis they would strengthen their vote base.
Sources said that among the squatters were those from the Northern and Eastern provinces.
Squatters from the North and East as well as others could be resettled in areas outside the city and its suburbs, the official said. The government could explore the possibility of gradually moving them out of the city to the provinces as part of their strategy to discourage squatters, he said.
Island (http://www.island.lk/2010/05/27/news1.html)