Colombo, January 20 (newsin.asia): At a special ceremony held at the Dayagama West Estate in Nuwara Eliya District on Sunday, 150 houses built under the Indian Housing Project were handed over to the beneficiaries jointly by Palani Digambaram, Minister for Hill country New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development and Gayantha Karunathilake, Minister of Lands and Parliamentary Reforms, V. Radhakrishnan, Non-Cabinet Minister for Special Area Development and Dr. Shilpak N. Ambule, Deputy High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka.
Several Members of Parliament and Central Provincial Council, officials from Plantation Human Development Trust (PHDT),UN Habitat, representatives of Regional Plantation Companies and a large number of people from the Dayagama West Estate, attended the function.
In his remarks, Deputy High Commissioner Ambule congratulated the owners of the newly built independent houses. He underscored that the Indian Housing Project in Sri Lanka with a grant of over US$ 350 million (close to LKR 50 billion), was the largest Indian grant assistance project to any country. He also recalled that out of the total commitment of 63,000 houses, 47,000 houses had already been built.
Expressing India’s support for the realization of Sri Lanka’s developmental priorities, he reiterated his government’s and the Indian people’s commitment to being with the people of Sri Lanka in their journey towards greater peace and prosperity.
(The picture at the top shows the Indian Deputy High Commissioner Shilpak Ambule with the Sri Lankan Minister of Lands, Gayantha Karunathilake at the ceremony to hand over 150 houses built with an Indian grant)
