Slums going high-rise in Colombo

Colombo is to replace its slums with towers of high-rise buildings, and in the next six
years the crime infested, poverty-ridden shanties would be no more. The question
however, is whether the government would be able to use these high rise buildings to
solve the social, economic and political issues of the slums in a fast expanding city.
Colombo is to replace its slums with towers of high-rise buildings, and in the next six
years the crime infested, poverty-ridden shanties would be no more. The question
however, is whether the government would be able to use these high rise buildings to
solve the social, economic and political issues of the slums in a fast expanding city.
The Wellawatta Lakmuthu Sevana Housing Complex was declared opened by
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, with a promise of "a new culture, new address and new
way of life," according to a slogan which highlighted its opening.
The complex was completed under the Urban Regeneration Project of the Urban
Development Authority for residents who were living in low income households at
Mayura Place, Wellawatta. The Housing Complex which has a total of 12 floors houses
120 units and it is built over 2.5 acres of land.

Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities Minister Wimal

Weerawansa speaking on the occasion promised to resettle 60,000 low income
households (families) in high rising buildings by 2016.
He said consecutive governments had abandoned developing Colombo as it was seen
as a UNP stronghold and the people had to wait for a UNP Government to receive any
development assistance. "However, the people need not wait for a UNP Government,
they should remember that it was this government and Rajapaksa who brought
development to Colombo," said the Minister.
Weerawansa said at a time when the Northern Province Chief Minister was speaking of
'Sinhala Colonization' in the North, the government was providing housing for all
ethnicities to live together in peace in Colombo.

As the audience continued to listen to the Minister's speech, he went on to elaborate

the achievements made in the housing sector in the country, "Sri Lanka has the
highest number of individuals who have permanent housing in the South Asian region
with 81% of the population living in houses with permanent structures. This is also the
country with the lowest number of slums in the region", he pressed on.

Given that Sri Lanka would be competing with countries like India, Bangladesh and
Pakistan in terms of slum populations, it is no surprise that the country scored so low
in the rankings.
The Minister in his speech also stressed the fact that the government had undertaken
large scale projects not only for the privileged but also the under-privileged of the
country, "Until now, no government wanted to improve the life of the needy. Today
however, we have built pavements and parks for them who could not enjoy these
luxuries before. The development plan of this government does not exclude the underprivileged", he said.

A resident who had been given a flat at the housing complex said she was very happy
with her flat and that it was a definite improvement in her living conditions.
In order to receive a flat, the families were asked to make a down payment of Rs
100,000 (Rs 50,000 as deposit and Rs 50,000 for maintenance). Additionally, if the
resident had chosen to pay for the flat over a 20 year lease, he/she was allowed to
pay Rs 4,000 as monthly rent, he may choose a 30 year lease scheme, with Rs 2,500
being charged as monthly rent. In addition to this Rs 10,000 was needed to be paid in
order for electricity to be connected.
The Mayura Place mosque had given Rs 100,000 to each Muslim family in the
Complex and the same mosque gave Rs 10,000 to all families regardless of ethnicity
for the electricity connection.

The big picture

The 'Lakmuthu Sevana' Housing Complex is the second such project to be completed
after the Dematagoda flats which were completed on 18 November 2013. The
Housing Complexes for low income households will be built under two phases, the first
will have 30,000 low cost housing units built within the next three years and the
second phase will have 40,000 units built in the following three years. Thus 70,000
households around Colombo are to be relocated to these housing complexes. The
project is to cost a total of Rs 500 billion and it will thereby release up to
approximately 1,000 acres of prime land for commercial development purposes.

Apart from the Housing Complex at Mayura Place, the government is currently in the
process of building 1,008 units at the Saalamulla Housing Complex, 720 units at

Estate 54 Borella Housing Complex, 432 units at Estate 66 Borella Housing Complex,
1,137 units at the Henamulla Housing Complex, 1,248 units at the Aluth Mawatha
Housing Complex, 696 units at the Government Factory Quarters land Kolonnawa, 366
units at the Cyril Perera Mawatha Housing Complex and 546 units at the Edirisinghe
Watte Housing Complex.

The Second phase which was also started simultaneously with the first has thus far
begun building 70 units at Thacchiwatta, 160 units at Bloemendhal, 40 units at
Orugodawatta, 11 storey building at a site next to the Mulleriyawa Base Hospital, a 11
storey building at a site next to the Angoda Hospital, a 11 storey building at the
Orugodawatta Timber Corporation land and a 11 storey building at the JEDB land at
Mattakkuliya.

The UDA has also called for investors to invest in developing the slums areas at 537
Watta Dematagoda - (Colombo 09), Mount Mary Land - Dematagoda (Colombo 09), &
Typing Watta (Colombo 08), (http://www.uda.lk/seeking_relocation.html)
187,189 & 255 Watta - Torrington Avenue, Udumage Watta (66 Watta) Baseline Road
and Taraa Watta (Colombo 07).

The government works on the premise that once a person is given a better place to
live, his/her outlook towards life would change. The Mayura place shanties are a good
example of this phenomenon. The shanties in-between the Mayura Place Kovil,
Mosque and Church were not influenced by the preaching of either establishment as
crime and vice reigned supreme in the neighbourhood. The positive aspect of the
shanty was that all communities, regardless of their ethnicity lived together in peace,
in their shared poverty. Today the place is clean, and all have been accommodated
into a 12 storey building. Whether the vices would disappear with the newly polished
floors however, is yet to be seen.

Development drive to see Slums and Shanties free

Colombo
The city of Colombo being the commercial Capital of Sri Lanka has enormous potential
to take off the development much greater than that of other capital cities in the south
Asian region. Due to political upheavals that prevailed after independence in 1948,
the successive governments have confronted with numerous hurdles in adopting
appropriate policies in every sector in the economy. If not for such drawbacks, the
strategic location of Sri Lanka in general and the city of Colombo in particular, located
in the close proximity to vital international marine transportation routes, would have
grown dramatically as the key commercial hub of Asia. The geopolitical climate in Sri
Lanka has drastically changed after the 30years of civil unrest prevailed in the country
and currently moving forward in an unprecedented manner.
The estimated average rate of urbanization in the country during the period 2010 to
2020 would be in the range of 3% to 4% per annum, while the country's annual
population growth rate will be less than 1.2 percent. These trends suggest that,
around 60 percent of the population would be living in urban areas by 2020.
With this trend, it is envisaged that the city of Colombo will continue to grow as the
prime commercial capital of Sri Lanka demanding gradual shift of its administrative
boundaries towards the hinterlands. The present government's policy framework, the
Mahinda Chintana policy manifesto: vision for future has correctly recognized these
development trends and strengthened the institutional framework which directly
involved in the urban development sector and adopted clear strategic actions to
develop the city of Colombo and other important and regional centres of Sri Lanka.
Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa
having known the growth potential and well-timed necessity, moved into the action of
urban development by removing security barriers and unnecessary parapet walls
initially. To that effect the city of Colombo unveiled its all green patches making an
undisturbed panorama. Thereupon numbers of projects were launched to upgrade the
physical condition of the city along with the garden city concept. It has been setup
with a number of leisure activities for the public to experience the real freedom.
Meanwhile, under the directives of the Secretary Defence Mr. Rajapaksa relevant
measures were initiated to address the Colombo's underserved settlement issue
which had been a burden for the development since longer period. Colombo has seen

its share of Shanties and Slums since 1954 in Colombo mostly providing
accommodation to the workers of Colombo port and urban businesses.
The residential areas of the city of Colombo represent significant characteristics in
terms of level of income of the residents such as high income residential areas, middle
income residential areas, lower middle income areas and low income areas. Among
them the low income area represent different characteristics of development
constrained by inadequacy or total lack of urban basic services and mostly improvised
buildings with no secure land ownership. Taking into the consideration of their specific
attributes, low income areas have been identified as "Underserved Settlements".
As a part of the greater national development drive, Colombo slums are being
removed and replaced with new high-rise apartment complexes under the Urban
Regeneration Programme while attracting private sector investments and their
participation in all possible urban development projects. In a bid to make Colombo city
free of slums and shanties, the government has planned to construct 70,000 housing
units for people living in underserved settlements through the urban regeneration
project
In this process, UDA plays a key role in providing necessary planning inputs, technical
supports, and coordination with all stake holder agencies including the law
enforcement authorities where necessary. The construction of high rise apartment
complexes to accommodate low income category of families living in Underserved
Settlements targeting to resettle 65000 households is the most vibrant action project
undertaken by the UDA which would pave the way to provide decent housing for all
the low income category population in the city while releasing those settlement sites
for urban development purposes. Thereon former slum dwellers will receive complete
housing units with all facilities. In addition public facilities will also be developed and
improved.These projects are under taken by the Urban Development Authority under
the supervision of Secretary Defence and Urban Development Mr. Gotabaya
Rajapaksa. Under the project the slum dwellers will be resettled in the close proximity
enabling them to engage in their usual occupations without hampering livelihood.
During the last two year period, UDA has awarded contract for construction of housing
schemes in 19 sites containing walk-up apartments, 12 storied condominium
apartments with a floor area of a unit around 400sq feet including all facilities and
amenities. Presently around 14000 housing units are under construction at different
stages and initial 'Mihidhu Senpura' 500 unit project in Dematagoda was vested on
public. In near future the resettlement of low income families has been scheduled to

be continued based on specific time frames on completion of construction of each

project. Having made all these hard efforts government expects to see a slums and
shanties free Colombo in year 2020.
These housing complexes are coming up at Henamulla, Aluthmawatha, Ferguson
Road, Cyril C Perera Mawatha, Edirisinghe Mawatha, Maligawatte CGR land, Estate 31Orugodawatta site, Estate 54 & 66, Government factory land-Kolonnawa, Salamulla
and Angoda.In this course of action, UDA has planned to construct 60,000 houses in
Colombo Central and Colombo North, while constructing 5,000 housing units in
Colombo South region. Meanwhile, highest numbers of houses are expected to be
constructed in Colombo North and Central where a large number of underserved
settlements exist.
This is the largest project ever implemented in the country and it is several times
bigger than the Mahaweli project.

Prospects of relocating underserved settlements in

Colombo suburbs
Suitable living atmosphere benefits younger generation giving
them a good recognition
The urban population explosion in developing countries has become a major problem.
This phenomenon has led to a host of problems that requires the urgent attention of
the authorities in order to find sustainable solutions. The influx of people from the
rural areas to the cities is the major reason for urban congestion. As a result of which
the cities are witnessing the emergence of shanties and slums.
Colombo has seen its share of Shanties and slums since 1954 in Colombo mostly
providing accommodation to the workers of Colombo port and urban businesses.
The sanitary and health conditions of the slum dwellers are very low and they hardly
have access to proper medical facilities. The health and hygienic conditions of the
slum children needs much attention. The slums do not have proper drainage and
sewage disposal systems and as they are situated in mostly low lying areas and mash
lands the slums are often affected during the rainy season. Life under such adverse
atmosphere children are most vulnerable to get affected by disease such as
respiratory problems, parasitic infections, and diarrhoea.

There are 1499 low facility human settlements distributed around most areas in
Colombo. Except Colombo Fort, slums have been recognized in 46 divisions which fall
into the category of low facility societies. Most of these houses are illegal structure or
squatters. There are about 135000 families dwelling in 68812 houses. Out of those
approximately 54000 are children (below the age of 14). Owing to the low literacy
rate, most of them are unemployed or under employed.
Poverty, ignorance, illiteracy of parents are some of the main reasons that affect the
education of the slum children. The school drop out rate is very high. Due to the
congested environment most of the children are deprived of the opportunity to get a
good education. These with other reasons have led to degradation of these backward
societies which has resulted in many anti social elements like underworld gangs, drug
addicts and drug dealers emerging from these slums.
In order tackle this dangerous situation effective measures must be taken to provide
these citizens a conducive living environment that would ensure the availability of
basic facilities like safe drinking water, proper sanitary and health facilities, preschools and schools etc. To make that happen first the slums and shanties that are
scattered around the city should be removed.