Secretary of the Ministry of Defense and Urban Development Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Resettled families in Keppapilavu, in the Mullaitivu District, received new houses yesterday (April 03). Secretary of the Ministry of Defense and Urban Development Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa symbolically handed over houses to 101 displaced families.

The houses were constructed under the second stage of a three-stage Keppapilavu Model Village project launched in September 2012 to provide permanent housing for the people displaced by the war. In May 2013, President Mahinda Rajapaksa handed over 10 houses to the beneficiaries under the first stage of the project.

The houses are being built by the Sri Lanka Army with community participation. The Ministry of Resettlement grants Rs. 375,000 to each family for the construction. Many of the houses for the elderly, disabled people and single parent (mother only) families were constructed entirely by security forces personnel.

As of today, out of 293 proposed new houses in the Keppapilavu Model Village Project, 151 have been completed.

The Defense Secretary also laid the foundation stone for the third stage of the project, which will see the construction of 66 more new houses for the benefit of the resettled people. Additionally, nine houses renovated by the Army in the Vellamullivaikkal area were also handed over to the rightful owners.