92903 Sri Lanka: Second North East Housing Reconstruction Program Last updated: September 16, 2008 August 19, 2008 Sri Lanka North East Housing Reconstructing Lives of the Conflict Displaced PROJECT INFORMATION: - Second North East Housing Reconstruction Program - North East Housing Reconstruction Program PRESS RELEASE: - Additional Funding for Roads, North East Housing and Education ABOUT THE PROJECT: The additional financing of US$43 million for the North East Housing Reconstruction Program would help rebuild 13,615 more houses. The twenty-five year old civil conflict in Sri Lanka led to loss of life, the displacement of persons belonging to all ethnic groups and the destruction of infrastructure, housing, health care centers and schools. A Joint Donor Needs Assessment in 2003 estimated that 290,615 houses destroyed in the civil conflict in Sri Lanka’s North and East prior to 2002 remained unrepaired. 25,300 more houses were destroyed with the resurgence of the conflict in 2006. The destruction or damage to the total housing stock in the North and the East provinces was 58 percent, and 90 percent of the houses belonging to the displaced population were also destroyed by the conflict This destruction to housing precipitated a significant level of population displacement and economic deprivation during periods of armed hostility. The challenge is to reconstruct conflict-damaged houses deemed safe for reconstruction and facilitate the return of the conflict-affected poor. • The approach is to support reconstruction through a cash grant scheme, paid in installments to help reconstruct homes. • The technical assistance will be provided under this program to help meet the long term housing needs in the North and East through improved construction standards, enhanced community involvement in housing construction and streamlined mechanisms to resolve property disputes. • 84 percent of the entire project caseload is either complete or nearing completion. • 22,946 houses out of the allocated 34,784 houses had been completed as at July, 2008. • NEHRP had trained 1,266 masons and carpenters as at May , 2008. An added 160 youth are currently being trained. • The Land Task Forces established under NEHRP had registered 96,385 conflict or displacement related land disputes. They had investigated 73,475 cases and resolved 52,721 cases of disputed/unclear land title in 2006. • Below is the completion rate of the houses to be built in the Third phase of NEHRP, since commencement in June 2007. Allocated Under District Completed Houses construction Jaffna 3,265 121 3,144 Vavuniya 737 736 1 Mannar 861 675 186 Trincomalee 2,079 1,913 166 Batticaloa 4,637 4,091 546 Ampara 2,389 2,036 353 Total 13,968 9,572 4,396 US$ 85 million IDA equivalent approved on December 14, 2004 and declared effective on March 15, 2005. Euros 15.6 million in parallel financing, from the European Commission based on robust implementation US$43 million in additional financing in June, 2008 The Additional Financing fits in well with the overall thrust of the IDA country program in its emphasis on meeting the immediate reconstruction needs of the impoverished conflict-affected population. It would build upon ongoing IDA financed efforts to support the return of IDPs, housing reconstruction, the restoration of health services, education, rural livelihood and drinking water supply in the North and East. IDA management took the decision to specifically support the housing sector given the success of the program to date, the scale of financing needs and absence of significant other donor support in that sector. The upcoming supplementary program would have three components i.e.: (a) Housing Assistance - This component would finance the housing reconstruction scheme, i.e. a grant of Rs 325,000 to each family meeting the eligibility and prioritization criteria to help rebuild their damaged houses. (b) Capacity Building Measures - This component would include technical assistance to ensure social and environmental safeguards, the training of construction workers and a robust communications campaign. (c) Support for Overall Program Management - This would finance the technical expertise in the North East Housing Reconstruction Unit (NEHRU), the incremental operating costs and the costs incurred in supervising Program implementation.