Telwatta tsunami houses sub-standard, say occupants

By Gamini Mahadura

One of the houses where the roof is already giving way

More than 200 houses built by the State and NGOs for the tsunami stricken people in the Telwatta area do not meet accepted construction standards, their occupants said.

During the rainy season water leaks from the roof while the floor is already cracked and the toilet pits are at overflowing level while the rafters have given way as the wood used was immature.

The affected persons request that their houses be re-constructed if alternative accommodation cannot be found for them. “Though the NGOs were magnanimous in funding the construction of these houses, the contractors who undertook the construction were at fault with no proper standards being followed,” one occupant said.

Ms. S. Piyaseeli said she lost her daughter in the tsunami while six other family members managed to save their lives by climbing a roof.
“The roof of the house built for me is leaking,” she said.