Let us first see the Houses that Rs2M built!

There is a proposal to have 65,000 prefab houses supplied from India, by Accelor Mittal the world’s largest steel producer, at Rs2M each.

Before we go any further let us see if it is at least livable in the conditions of the North and East where there is bright sunlight! A supposed solar panel is included too.

If it not livable then they can shove it, RIGHT! If it is then, why 2M when in fact I can have the same house from the same manufacturer at Rs500K? The difference is the proverbial commission!!! So something really sucks here!

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/160117/news/houses-at-rs-2-m-each-for-north-east-displaced-179065.html

How is Sri Lanka going to pay off the loan that has to be taken to build this? With all the loans currently falling due, little wonder that we don’t need any more we will find hard to pay. So just on that score just can it.

Then what is going to happen to the 65,000 families who don’t have a roof over their heads? Just give them to a cooperative to build a home of their choice, and for which only Rs500K will be disbursed, and the rest is up to the homeowner to supplement. That is fair. As NO ONE appreciates a free house, they do however if they have put in some of their own to build it, and they cannot blame anyone on shoddy workmanship.

Take a cue from the 50,000 houses built by India, and determine the pros and cons of that, and refine it to improve the standards, not exchange it for deal that impoverishes the Country, and gives a family a house that they would rather NOT live in. Have you even thought about the stigma attached to this, especially if in future, it has such a bad reputation, as not being livable and therefore NOT SALEABLE either! This is a VERY REAL possibility.

Don’t we ever learn? Will we ever learn? We just keep making the same mistake over and over again, and just don’t get it. Why opt for speed? It always results in bad choices. These are abodes we are talking of. Ones where people expect to live for 75 years at least! It is simply NOT possible to do this with these prefab furnaces! Ask Swaminathen to stay in it for a week as the first test, and see what he says, as he sure is in for a big whack of the slush fund.

Please let us NOT repeat the excesses of the past administration and finally make decisions that positively affect the people we are supposed to govern!