A housing loan assistance programme run islandwide by the National Housing Development Authority between 2015 and 2019 was marred by corruption, political influence and serious implementation failures, Deputy Minister of Housing, Construction and Water Supply T.B. Sarath told Parliament on Thursday.
The issue was raised by National People’s Power MP Susantha Kumara Navaratne, who questioned the effectiveness of housing schemes run under previous administrations. Navaratne said the programmes had been presented as major public welfare initiatives but left many beneficiaries in debt, with recipients unable to repay their loans. Assistance promoted as housing grants often amounted to only Rs. 136,000 or around Rs. 200,000, he said — too little to be of practical use in building a home.
Sarath responded that the projects had not been designed around the actual housing needs of beneficiaries but were in many cases shaped by political considerations. Investigations have found loans issued to individuals linked to the political authority of the time, he said, and instances where several members of the same family received loans. Authorities are struggling to obtain complete records for many of the loans granted.
Some housing schemes were built inside wildlife zones, the Deputy Minister said, making it legally impossible to allocate those houses to the intended beneficiaries. He described housing villages containing 15, 20, 30 or even 40 houses where only a single house remained occupied, with many beneficiaries no longer traceable. The government is now assessing the housing units in these settlements and identifying which are occupied.
Sarath said a proposal has been submitted for the upcoming Budget to provide a special financial assistance package for families still living in the schemes.
Separately on Thursday, Minister of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment Dr. Upali Pannila said the government has allocated Rs. 44 billion for the National Housing Development Programme, Ada Derana reported. Speaking at a house handover under the “Ran Vimana” scheme in the Kesbewa Divisional Secretariat Division, Pannila said the programme aims to provide houses to 30,000 low-income families this year, with the Department of Samurdhi Development alone expecting to build more than 1,000.
