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UDA planning resettlement of Colombo’s shanty dwellers
View(s):The Urban Development Authority (UDA) has drawn up plans to re-settle more than 67,000- shanty families living in and around the metropolis, over the next three years a senior official revealed yesterday.
These families will not be moved out from their original locations, as the flats will be constructed in the same areas, UDA’s Urban Regeneration project head E. A. C. Priyashantha said. He added presently some 14, 768 flats were nearing completion and another 30,000 would be added before the end of 2017. The cost of construction of each unit is estimated at Rs. 3.5 million, he said.
He said shanty dwellers living in some 1,500 tenement gardens dotted in different parts of the metropolis made up 53 per cent of the city’s population. The move to relocate these people, he said was to stamp out vice and underworld activities that are known to be rampant in these so-called shanty gardens.
“It will also add to the beautification of the city while at the same time upgrading the living standards of these people”, Mr. Priyashantha added.