The Prime Minister opened the ‘Lakhiru Sevana’ housing complex at Maligawatta on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said the previous government laid emphasis on building apartments for the rich and the capitalist class. He said the immediate challenge before the national government was to seek funds to activate stalled housing projects. ‘Lakhiru Sevana’ housing complex is one such project, he said.

The Prime Minister said the Government hoped to complete 6,000 houses under a project launched with funds raised by the NHDA and partly provided by the State. He said the government promised to develop the Colombo City. It was involved in the process of finding funds.

He said the government proposed to build flats to house shanty drivellers and utilize the land on which they had lived for other urban development programmes.

The Prime Minister said the NHDA was responsible for maintaining white elephants like the Hambantota Conference Hall. The government was tasked with the responsibility of repaying loans obtained for building such white elephants, he said.

The Government devoted the last two years towards strengthening the country’s economy. The government was not in a position to repay even the interests on loans let alone repaying loan instalments early 2015. The government changed the situation. The country has the ability to repay loans, he said.

He said several other housing schemes similar to the ‘Lakhiru Sevana’ housing scheme were being built throughout the country. The programme included the middle class and rural housing schemes, the re-settlement housing projects in the North and the plantation housing scheme, he said. (CDN)