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Govt.
to import building material National Housing Authority Chairman M.N. Junaid who heads the newly-established special unit on housing for tsunami-affected people, said they had to take this measure as a safety precaution, as they feared that the high demand for building materials for the vast reconstruction effort would result in local market prices shooting up to unrealistic levels. The National Housing Authority has already written to Sri Lankan missions abroad and foreign missions in Sri Lanka requesting them to look for reliable suppliers of building materials for the reconstruction programme. The NHA has identified a need for 75,000 housing units which would cost almost Rs. 30 billion rupees. Mr. Junaid said one of the problems might be the availability of sand and they were considering the possibility of getting it from India. Other options explored by the NHA are pumping sand from the estuaries and the use of sea sand. The NHA is also thinking of importing heavy vehicles to move bulk cement from the port. Mr. Junaid also said they were keeping a vigilant eye on cement prices. He said if the prices reached unreasonable levels the NHA would be forced to import cement to keep prices down. |
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