President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has set a June 15 deadline for Badulla District families who remain undecided about relocating to alternative lands, and ordered all 21 disaster-damaged Road Development Authority roads in the district to be completed before the end of this year.
The directives came at a Special Coordination Committee meeting on Wednesday at the Badulla Library Auditorium reviewing Cyclone Ditwah recovery work, the President’s Media Division said. Of 90,667 individuals from 26,517 families affected in the district, 77 estate houses and 507 rural houses suffered complete destruction. A further 1,376 estate houses and 1,474 rural houses are classified as high-risk dwellings, bringing the total requiring resettlement to 3,434 families.
The President instructed officials to “move beyond reports and plans” and ensure displaced people regain confidence in owning a new home. He told the meeting that financial constraints should not be considered an obstacle in restoring normal life for disaster victims, according to PMD.
Special attention was given to the release of state lands currently occupied by private companies that have been earmarked for resettlement. The President directed that housing construction commence immediately once inter-agency agreements on those land releases are reached.
Compensation tracks reviewed at the meeting covered loss of livelihoods, small- and medium-scale business establishments, housing rental assistance and compensation for loss of life. A new Rs. 25,000-per-acre allowance was approved for removing sand and rocks deposited on paddy fields and agricultural lands, to be implemented with farmer organisations.
The Badulla directive follows similar coordination meetings the President has chaired in Kandy and Matale, where a Rs. 500 billion year-end allocation was announced for Ditwah projects. Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya has separately set a year-end deadline for the bulk of reconstruction, with army engineers building 1,000 interim shelters by end-May.
Plantation Minister Samantha Vidyarathna, who chairs the Badulla District Coordination Committee, attended alongside Uva Province Governor Kapila Jayasekara, Deputy Ministers Ruwan Ranasinghe and Dinidu Saman Hennayake, and MPs Kitnan Selvaraj and Ravindra Bandara.
