Harsha alleges UPFA ploy to deceive flood victims

Close on the heels of UNP Deputy Leader and MP Sajith Premadasa’s call for adequate compensation for those affected by recent floods, UNP National List MP Dr. Harsha Silva yesterday alleged that the allocation of Rs. 100 million as compensation for houses damaged and destroyed meant the majority of the victims wouldn’t receive any financial assistance at all.

The MP accused the government of trying to hoodwink flood victims, while urging the relevant ministries and the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) to examine the needs of the disaster victims without further delay. The government should make a realistic assessment of their needs and take tangible measures to provide them with relief, he added.

Commenting on Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera’s recent declaration that Rs. 100 million would be paid as compensation for houses destroyed and damaged by floods, MP Silva challenged his parliamentary colleague to explain how he intended to divide the allocation among the victims. Now that Minister Amaraweera had promised Rs. 100,000 each for the houses destroyed by floods and Rs. 50,000 each for damaged ones, he obviously didn’t have the required funds to pay compensation, Dr. de Silva said. “The latest report issued by Amaraweera’s ministry, dated Dec. 24, 2012, identifies 3,269 houses as fully damaged and 8,053 as partially damaged. If one does the arithmetic this works out to about Rs. 730 million; that is 327 million for the fully damaged houses and 403 million for the partially damaged houses. The amount allocated is only a mere 13.7 per cent of what is needed. Or, in other words, the maximum payment for a fully damaged house will be Rs. 13,700 and for a partially damaged house Rs. 6,850.”

MP Silva said that the government should explain how a destitute family could build a house for Rs. 100,000. Even a low cost one-bed-roomed 400 sq. ft house would cost between Rs. 300,000 to Rs. 600,000 excluding labour costs, he added. Even a mud hut with a thatched roof may cost more than the government allocation, the MP alleged.

Therefore, even going by the lowest estimate of Rs. 300,000 for a new house and Rs. 150,000 for a repairable house, and assuming own and community labour, the minister should seek Rs. 2.2 billion as an urgent allocation for the task at hand, the MP said.

The government should know its priorities, the MP said, lambasting the SLFP-led ruling coalition for squandering public funds on image building exercises, whereas those who really needed state assistance were denied funds. The MP pointed out that the government today proudly talked about conquering space at a great expense to the taxpayer, while the floods victims were crying out for assistance. The MP alleged that the government had enough funds to send one VVIP to space within the next seven years but it seemed to be reluctant to help those affected by floods.

Commenting on the housing needs of the war affected, the UNPer said: “After the conclusion of the conflict the estimate was for 129,000 new houses in the war ravaged Northern Province, with another 41,000 houses needing extensive repairs. But, according to the latest reports of the United Nations country office, only 21,000 houses had been built and another 6,070 under construction, almost all using donor funding including from the government of India. This is a national shame.” (By Shamindra Ferdinando)

Source: The Island (Sri Lanka)