Final Draft

MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

AND
PRESIDENTIAL TASK FORCE

Housing Project under

Indian Assistance

Project Report
September 2010
 
HOUSING RECONSTRUCTION PROGRAMME IN THE NORTHERN PROVINCE 
UNDER THE ASSISTANCE  FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA 
 
 

Contents : 

1. Background and Introduction 

2. Implementation Arrangement 

3. Programme Description 

4. Programme Implementation Process and  Roles  of Agencies 

5. Operational Cost 

6. Operational Instructions 
 HOUSING RECONSTRUCTION PROGRAMME IN THE NORTHERN PROVINCE UNDER
THE ASSISTENCE FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
CHAPTER 1‐ BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION 

1.1. OVERVIEW

The programme aims to support the reconstruction and repair of fully and partly damaged housing,
belonging to the resettled families in the Northern province. Based on the financial assistance
packages, formulated by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Government of India, the programme
aims to support the reconstruction of nearly 33,000 fully damaged houses and repair of 17,000 partly
damaged units over a four year period, starting from the last quarter of 2010.

1.2 PROGRAM OBJECTIVE

The Indian assistance would provide the conflict-affected families in the North that meet accepted
criteria with improved and affordable housing units. It would entail a cash grant paid in installments to
the resettled families to help reconstruct their homes.

1.3 DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE AND KEY INDICATORS

The Indian assistance would facilitate the reconstruction of 50,000 houses in the North over a four-
year period through the provision of housing grants. In doing so, it would also support the
resettlement of displaced populations in the North and the regularization of land title to targeted
beneficiaries. It would contribute to the training of skilled construction workers, consequently
allowing the resumption of economic activity in the war devastated region through increased
construction activity.

1.4 Reconstruction and Development Issues

1.4.1 Selection of beneficiaries:

There is a consensus that the first priority among the various claimants for housing financial support
should be the poor and most vulnerable families( such as widows, single headed households,
differently able& infirm as a results of old age or injury-especially in the war) with damaged houses.
Due to the limited funds available for the housing reconstruction program, it would identify the
vulnerable and poor families through the application of an objective selection process and community
consultation process.
A third party independent verification of the beneficiary list will ensure transparency and
accountability.
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1.4.2 Spatial Scope:

Considering the (i) extent of displacement and (ii) severity of the housing damage, as at present, all
the 50,000 are marked for the north. However, a certain percentage say 5% may be set aside for the
east especially for those displaced in the chronically underdeveloped parts of Eastern Province.

1.4.3 Land:

As the investments in housing repair and reconstruction are spatially fixed, land is a critical element of
the proposed program. While the land protection and property rights issues will not be overlooked,
the programme will adopt a pragmatic approach to ensure a continuous processing of simpler, eligible
cases while the more complex ones are resolved through existing and enhanced frameworks. The
program will identify workable mechanisms to ensure that those receiving housing assistance are the
rightful owners of the land on which they invest. The program, therefore, supports a land resolution
and regularization strategy within the framework of existing land administration. To resolve village
specific land issues, task forces will be established at district and provincial levels and these teams
will resolve issues related to loss of records, boundary disputes and regularization of state land
occupied by the claimants, etc.

1.4.4 Limited Production Capacity:

The scale of input price increases will be a major concern, especially input such as sand, timber and
cement Adding a significant number of new housing units to these demands would have significant
additional price effects. These capacity constraints could be sorted out by establishing the following
a. Establishing regional bulk supply stations in each district with a supply network linking with state
agencies such as Building Material Cooperation, State Timber Corporation and Malty Purpose
Cooperative Societies.
b. Encouraging private pre-cast construction materials producers to establish their yards in local with
the support of National Engineering Research Development Center
c. Identifying the locally available low cost and alternative construction materials, train the locally
available construction employees in the technology and encourage to adopt.

1.4.5. Quality of housing:

The larger grant will bring with it grater expectation of quality construction, hence ensuring quality
construction is essential. This requires at least one engineer per 1500 houses and one technical Officer
per 75 houses under construction. A third party independent technical audit will ensure the quality of
housing.
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1.4.6. Vocational and on the job training:

There will be more demand for skill workers in the field of construction during the programme period.
The Wanni area do not have adequate skill construction workers. As house construction is quite simple,
arrangement will be made to provide on the job training for youths and beneficiaries to minimize the
problem.

1.4.7 Environment:

The long years of conflict in the North East have resulted in significant natural resource degradation,
particularly in the deforestation of the extensive forest cover in the region. The urgency for housing
reconstruction could result in further aggravating the problem of conflict related deforestation through
exploitation of forest resources for timber. In addition, the demand for construction material could
increase sand and clay mining (the latter mainly for bricks). The mining of sand in rivers has the
potential to cause the lowering of the riverbed, collapse of the banks, intrusion of seawater and
reduced sand replenishment in the beaches. Mining of coastal sand exacerbates coastal erosion. Water
resources are scarce, particularly in the North, and can pose problems during construction. Improper
sanitary facilities or the lack of it, improper disposal of liquid and solid wastes are some of the other
main issues concerned with the project. It is necessary to identify these risks and to incorporate proper
strategies into the design of the project to mitigate such risks. Experience gained from the North East
Housing Programme(NEHRP) will be used to screen the target villages under the project proper, for a
rapid environmental assessment and to improve the overall implementation of the project.

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CHAPTER  2 – IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENT 

2.1. The programme will be implemented in 2 stages.

a. Construction of one thousand cluster based houses in relocated areas – as a pilot project
b. construction of 50,000 houses under home owner driven basis. This will be implemented in two stages
as given below
i. Repairs of 10,000 houses in both Jaffna and Vanni electorate.
ii. Normal Programme- Construction of 40,000 houses (Both partly damaged and fully damaged).

2.2 a. Construction of one thousand cluster based houses in relocated area

2.2.1. Selection of Beneficiaries

Under this stage, landless IDPs will be identified and be resettled in newly identified habitable areas. The
most vulnerable groups will be given priority among the land less under this programme as indicated
below
a. Widows
b. Single headed house holds
c. Differently able
d. Infirm as result of old age
e. Infirm as a result of injury
f. Families below the poverty line
The respective Government Agents have identified the beneficiaries according to the above said criteria
and allocated land to them as indicated below.

District DS Division GN Division Village No. of

Beneficiaries
Jaffna Jaffna J/68 Reclamation East 32
J/69 Reclamation west 08
Nallure J/90 Ariyalai East 50
Thellipallai J/215 Allaveddy North 13
J/216 Allaverddy Center 08
J/217 Allaverddy East 09
Karainagar J/44 Karainagar sourth 30
Sub Total 150
Kilinochchi Karaichchi Poonagar Arivial nagar 100
Kandawalai Puliampotkanai Kandawalai 101
Poonagari Pallikudah Thekerai 75
Pachchilaipalli Soranpattu Karaithai 50
Sub Total 326
Mulaithivu Thunukai Uillankulam Uilnkulam 50
Marritain Pattu Mulliyavallai west Vannan Vayal 50
Oddisudan Thachchadampan Karripatta murripu 50
Pandiyankulam Pandiankulam kaddukarai 50
Sub Total 200

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 Mannar Manthai west Vellnkulam Vellankulam 12
Kalliaddi Kalliaddi 60
Madhu Parriapandivirichchan East Periyapandivirichchan 47
East
Musalai Sillawathurai Sillavathurai 56
Sub Total 175
Vavuniya Vavuniya Vavuniya Marriadithakulam 50
Vavuniya North Pulliyankulam North parasankulam 50
Vavuniya South Mahamagilan Kulam Kudakacha Kodiya 50
Venkalacheddikulam Andiyapulliyankulam Bihidiya farm 50
Sub Total 200

Arrangement have been made to provide basic community infrastructure and lively hood improvement
facilities in the relocated villages

2.2.2. Implementation mechanism

Construction of houses will be contracted out and the housing construction will take place according
to the beneficiaries’ preferred type plan (from among agreed and available type plans with the
contractor) requirements and with their participation.

The details of agreement made between the successful contractors and Government of India should be
made available to the GOSL to enable the implementing agency to monitor carefully the quality of the
construction and the progress of the programme. In view of the existing knowledge and experience
available, the NEHRP (World Bank Funded Project) will be the implementing agency.

2.2.3. Technical supervision and certification:

NEHRP engineering unit will do the technical supervision on daily basis and certify for the payment
of the constrictors as agreed on the contract.

2.2.4 Monitoring arrangement :

Monitoring will be carried out at three levels ie, District level, Provincial Level and National Level. At
district level, District Coordinating committee will be monitoring the progress. Similarly at provincial
level, provincial Project coordinating committee will monitor the project progress. A by weekly progress
report will be submitted to the Hon. Governor, NPC highlighting important implementation issues.
National steering Committee will be monitoring the progress on quarterly basis.

2.3 .Construction of 50,000 houses under home owner driven basis.

This will be implemented in two stages
i. Repairs of 10,000 houses in both Jaffna and Vanni electorate.
ii. Normal Programme- Construction of 40,000 houses (Both partly damaged and fully damaged).
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 2.3.1 Repairs of 10,000 houses in both Jaffna and Vanni electorate.

Repair of 10,000 partly damaged houses will be undertaken during this stage following the
implementation procedures stipulated in the chapters 3 and 4 as adopted by NEHRP under already
implemented Home Owner Driven Programme.

a. Terms of Payment: Maximum amount of SLRs. 200,000 will be released in three installments to the
beneficiaries bank account viz 1st payment 50%, 2nd payment 40% and 3rd payment 10% based on
the performance certified by the NEHRP technical officers. The beneficiaries entitlements will be
according to the assessment by the technical team.
b. Villages selection and beneficiaries selection
c. Grievance redress mechanism
As mentioned in Chapter 3 & 4 
d. Land Ownership resolution
e. Construction supervision and monitoring

2.3.2 Normal Programme

Implementation arrangement has been discussed in details in Chapters 3 & 4

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CHAPTER 3 ‐ PROGRAM DESCRIPTION 

3.1 Program Components

a. The Grant Description and Transfer Mechanism

The Indian assistance will finance a cash grant to selected eligible beneficiary families (the
eligibility criteria are described below). The selected eligible beneficiary families will qualify for
one of two types of grants i.e. “fully damaged” housing grant or “partly damaged” housing grant.
The assessment of fully damaged versus partly damaged houses will occur through a Housing
Damage Assessment and Social Verification Survey. It will provide a cash grant of Rs600, 000 to
beneficiary families whose house is assessed as fully damaged. It will provide a grant of Rs200,
000 to beneficiary families whose house is assessed as partly damaged. It is estimated that 80% of
the houses will be classified as fully damaged while 20% will be categorized as partly damaged.
The grant will finance the physical requirement of at least a permanent foundation of 400 square
feet, four walls and a roof and a toilet. Transfer of the cash grant to the joint bank accounts of the
selected beneficiary will be made in four tranches for the fully damaged housing grant category
and two tranches in the case of a partly damaged house. The pace of installments will be
performance based.

For fully damaged housing grants, initially Rs 100,000will be transferred to the joint bank account
in the name of both husband and wife of each identified beneficiary household (unless it is a
single headed household). This will be used to mobilize resources to reconstruct a fully damaged
house. Upon verification by the divisional level engineer that the foundation has been completed
and other construction progress has occurred, the second installment of Rs 200,000 will be
transferred to enable the beneficiary to construct the superstructure. Upon completion of the
foundation and superstructure, Rs 250,000 will be transferred to complete the house to
specifications. Once the divisional engineer verifies completion of civil works by an on-site
supervision, Rs 50,000 will be transferred to the beneficiary’s bank account to reimburse the
estimated remaining expenditure.

For a partly damaged house, 50% of the estimated cost will be provided upfront. The second and
final installment for repairs will be paid upon completion of the work.

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 Each beneficiary family will be allowed a period of approximately six months for the completion
of the physical works. This will mitigate against funds being recycled for other purposes. To
facilitate compliance, each eligible beneficiary family will sign a memorandum of understanding
with the District Program Unit. This will outline the target dates and construction progress
required for each tranche payment to be triggered and any other obligations to be made by the
beneficiary family.

b. Apportioning of Funds across Beneficiaries and Districts

TABLE No. 3.1

IDP’s, Housing Damage and Targeted Housing – Repairs of 5000 Houses

Electorate Districts NEHRP need Electorate District allocation
assessment 2010 allocation
(Tentative Estimate)
Jaffna Jaffna 9639 5,000 2,000
Kilinochchi 2948 3,000
Vanni Mulaithievu 1803 5,000 2,500
Mannar 1432 1,250
Vavuniya 1231 1,250
17,053 10,000 10,000

IDP’s, Housing Damage and Targeted Housing New Construction

Electrotrate Districts NEHRP need District allocation District allocation
assessment in % of total in Numbers*
2010(Tentative
Estimate)

Jaffna Jaffna 60,842 13.32% 5,800

Kilinochchi 41,214 35% 13,600
Vanni Mulaithievu 27,652 25% 10,000
Mannar 23,926 13.34% 5,300
Vavuniya 14,496 13.34% 5,300
Total 40,000

* Note: In Vavuniya District NEHRP completed its activities in 2008 and Vavuniya North has sustained heavy damage.
In Jaffna district, the number of damage houses heavily influenced by the number of damaged houses took place from 2002.

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 c. Village Selection and Beneficiary Selection
Villages will be selected for participation based on a ranking system, taking into account: (i)
caseload of damaged housing stock; (ii) caseload of returnees; (iii) extent of mine clearance and
where available. Subsequent to selection of villages, grants will be allocated per village based on
(i) caseload of returnees and; (ii) damaged housing stock. The list of villages to be included in the
program, the number of grants per village, and a justification of each will be approved at the
provincial level. It is estimated that approximately 500 villages will participate in this programme.

Beneficiaries will be selected in the following manner: Subsequent to the selection of the villages
and the allocation of grants per village through the process described above, a Housing Damage
Assessment and Social Verification Survey in the selected villages will take place. The assessment
team will consist of a Divisional technical officer, VRC member and a CBO representative
supported by Grama Niladari of the village.

A potential beneficiary must meet three eligibility conditions to be considered for the housing
assistance to begin with. These are:
The beneficiary, including the main breadwinner, should be permanently settled in the village.
The beneficiary should possess a formal right to the land on which the reconstruction is proposed.
The beneficiary should possess only one house which is fully or partly damaged and should not
have been enlisted for assistance under any other programme. The beneficiary list of the housing
programs of the particular area should be made available to this programme office for cross
checking purpose. Families who meet the above eligibility criteria will then be prioritized based on
the following prioritization criteria and using a quantified weighted scoring system as outlined in
the Table 1.1 below.
TABLE 3.2 : Weighted Scoring System for Beneficiary Selection
Criteria applied to 1 point 2 points 3 points Additional
Family Units Points
No. of family members 6 persons 7-8 persons 9 and above
Female single head With adult Children With children With children
not supporting
supporting children between 12- under 12 years
or no children 18 years

Disabled (mental and 1 person 2 persons 3 and above and

physical) Parent/Breadwinner
Elders Over 50 years Over 60 years Over 70 years
Lost/Missing 1 person 2-3 persons 3 and above Breadwinner
- 3 points
Unaccompanied 1 person 2-3 persons 4 and above
Minor/Orphan
Total Score

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 Subsequent to the survey, there will be a computerized ranking and listing of eligible families in a
particular village. The VRC will validate the list of identified beneficiaries equal in number to the
number of allocated grants at a community meeting. Any amendments will be recorded in writing and
will include the reasons as to why the amendment was made. The list will be subsequently advertised
at a public place in the village concerned, together with the beneficiary scores. At a public meeting,
the Divisional Secretary or his/her nominee will explain the methodology that drove the allocation
process.

d. Grievance Redress

In the instance that any individual in a village disagrees with the list or his/her classification, he or she
will be at liberty to participate in a grievance redress process. The grievance redress process will occur
as follows:
Subsequent to the publication of the list, the Divisional Secretary will visit a village, within a week,
facilitated by the district office and convene a meeting of the VRC. Representatives of civil society
will be invited to join the mobile divisional secretariat as observers. On that day, affected villagers
may raise their grievances directly with the Divisional Secretary. These will be recorded in writing.
Affected villagers may also send written grievances to the Divisional Secretary. These grievances
must reach the Divisional Secretary by the date of his/her visit to the village. The Divisional
Grievance Redress Committee consisting of the Divisional Secretary, two CBO representatives and
the Heads of the VRC’s from participating villages in that division, will review the complaints raised.
Changes to the list will be introduced, if the committee sees fit. There will be a two week time-line
between the public posting of identified recipients and the ruling of the Divisional Grievance
Committee.

Should the individual concerned remain dissatisfied at the perceived exclusion, he/she could take it up
with the District level Grievance Redress Committee. This will consist of the District Secretary, the

Assistant District Secretary and two representatives of the Community. At least, one person in the
committee will have to be a woman and in districts with ethnic diversity, ethnic

representation will have to be reflected at the committee level. This district level grievance redress
mechanism will review all contested cases and rule accordingly.

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 If the individual concerned is still dissatisfied with his/her exclusion he/she may submit his/her
grievance to the Chief Secretary of the NPC for ruling. The ruling of the Chief Secretary is final.
Such successful individuals may not necessarily receive their grants at the same time as the rest of
their village. Instead, they will receive their grants subsequent to the ruling of the Chief Secretary,
which may occur at a time subsequent to the beginning of the construction program in their village.

The continuous social impact assessment will offer an added opportunity for those villagers with
unresolved grievances to record their views to a neutral outside consultancy firm, bypassing the
divisional and district administrations, for possible consideration at the next phase of construction.

e. Land Ownership Resolution:

The program will support the engagement of Land Task Forces (LTFs) that will accelerate the
resolution of routine land ownership issues in program villages including encroachment on
previously un -alienated State lands, occupation by adult children of un-subdivided land currently
held in the name of a parent, and property boundary uncertainty.

For grievances related to land ownership, the public posting of potential beneficiaries before
finalization of the list will also allow for challenges based on land ownership, even in cases where
the potential beneficiary has an apparently legitimate land ownership document. For the vast majority
of lands which are state lands, statutory remedies to such challenges under the Land Development
Ordinance and Crown Land Ordinance include determinations by the Divisional Secretary and appeal
to the Provincial Land Commissioner. As with other grievances, attempts to settle such disputes at
the community level through the VRCs and GSN Officers will first be explored. Where the grievance
persists and, especially in disputes over private lands where the parties may wish to avoid the lengthy
and costly court procedures, the appeal facility of the District Land Tribunals will be available. Each
Tribunal will comprise three members reflective of the composition of the District, appointed by the
Chief Secretary NPC on recommendation of the District Secretary.

f. Environmental Clearance
Subsequent to village selection, an environmental officer at the district or divisional level will screen
that village for potential environmental impacts using a rapid assessment based on a questionnaire.
The questionnaire (which has been designed and fine-tuned by NEHRP) will capture site-specific
information to determine the type and degree of environmental risks associated with the program in
the given area. In the event that significant environmental issues are identified, further analysis,
through a village specific EIA, will be recommended. This EIA will include an Environmental
Management Plan (EMP) that will specify measures to mitigate the identified impacts. Clearance will
  11
 be granted based on the findings of the village specific EIA and subject to the implementation of the
recommended mitigatory measure/s spelt out in the EMP. In the event that no significant
environmental issues are identified, environmental clearance will be granted on completion of the
rapid assessment with or without subjection to the implementation of certain mitigatory conditions,
as the case may be.

g. The Construction Process

Owner driven construction process
In Owner Driven Construction programme, beneficiaries will plan out their housing requirement, draw
the house plan with the support of the implementing unit or select suitable house plan from the
implementing unit sample plans, construct on their own without deviating the housing construction
standard and the project minimum requirement. The implementing agency will assist and ensure that
the beneficiaries reconstruct a quality house and monitor the progress closely. The third party
Independent Technical Audit Consultants will ensure quality construction in addition to the
implementing unit.

To mitigate the risks of environmentally unsustainable resource extraction, inflation and supply
constraints the district/divisional administrative units will facilitate the supply of construction
material in bulk for selected beneficiaries across a division. The beneficiary will however have a
choice in opting into the bulk procurement system. The bulk procurement system is expected to
function in the following way:

The District/Divisional administrative units prepare a resource requirement plan based on material
needs per district over the period of implementation based on existing phasing and grant apportioning
plans, and on prices for a particular phase in particular districts;
The District/Divisions begin discussion with relevant organizations such as the District Chambers
of Commerce, the Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies, on the supply of such materials from
authorized sources. Arrangements will be made to establish bulk supply stations in each district to
facilitate this process.
Subsequent to the selection of beneficiaries, they be given 1-2 weeks to decide if they will opt for
the bulk procurement/buyer society method;
The District/Division subsequently assists the beneficiaries, either through VRC, or individually,
to engage with the supplier for timely delivery of materials.

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 h. Construction Supervision and Monitoring
Monitoring of construction (i.e. outputs) and impacts will occur through several mechanisms:
A continuous social impact assessment will monitor impact, outcome and outputs of the program
using quantitative and qualitative methodologies. It will also include a community social audit of the
process of beneficiary selection, construction at each stage and other aspects of implementation.
District and divisional secretaries will submit technical audits on, amongst others, number of
grants disbursed and number of houses constructed in a phased manner, number of grievances per
village, number of resolved grievances per village and technical quality of construction. Engineers at
the Divisional Secretariat will certify the physical progress in civil works to authorize the release of
funds at each stage.
Continuous environmental monitoring will be conducted by the District/Divisional level
environmental officers of the Central Environmental Authority in order to ensure compliance with
conditions based on which clearance has been granted.
A third party technical audit of civil works will also be carried out by a consulting firm. This
audit will include monitoring of technical engineering standards, and number of houses
constructed in a phased manner.

i. Timing and Phasing

The program timing per activity is depicted in the table below. Note that the activities may run
concurrently to each other.
TABLE : 3.3 - Time Taken Per Activity
Time Taken Activity
9 months Land Redres Process ( Total Process)
1 month Program familiarization campaign (Each village)
2,3 months Beneficiary Selection Process (Each Village)
6 months Construction (Individual Beneficiaries)

The program will be completed within four years and will be divided into four phases. The notional
number of targeted beneficiaries in each phase is depicted in the table below and was calculated using
the percentage of damaged houses in each district
TABLE : 3.4 - Project Number of Houses Constructed Per District/Per Phase
District Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 TOTALS
Jaffna 2000 2175 2175 1450 7,800
Kilinochchi 3000 5100 5100 3400 16,600
Mullaithivu 2500 3750 3750 2500 12,500
Mannar 1250 1988 1988 1325 6,550
Vavuniya 1250 1987 1987 1325 6,550
10,000 15,000 15,000 10,000 50,000

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The total housing caseload of the program has been phased into approximately 000 units in year 1, 10,000
for year 2, 16,000 for year 3 and 16,000 for year 4. This total caseload, including the approximate
provision for land-related redress cases, will be allocated to each district based on the proportion of
damaged houses.

The Programme has planned to begin the village profiling and selection process in the last quarter of
2010, preferably in November 2010. The land related grievance redress mechanism and regularization
process will begin soon and these activities will be undertaken in parallel. The village profiling with
layers of information such as damaged houses, number of displaced population and returnees, extent of
landmine clearance, vulnerability and ethnicity will be mapped in each district. Villages having the
highest scores will be selected in each district. Since village characteristics related to number of
returnees, vulnerability, landmine clearance and ethnic composition of population change over a period of
time, the profile exercise and mapping will be updated for each district at the beginning of the phase. A
three-month period earmarked for conducting the damage assessment and social verification survey for
the villages selected for the first phase will begin soon after the completion of village selection. The same
survey will be carried out for the selected villages at the beginning of each phase.

j. Project Cycle and Phasing Roll Over Strategy

TABLE No. 3.5
Project Activity Phasing
Project Activities Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Remarks
Village Profile Mapping The village
and Selection profile will be
in
updated
each phase
in
Housing Damage Undertake
Assessment and Social each phase
Verification
for
Resolution of Project Continues
Related Land Issues 8 to 9 Months
Grievance Redress Process Continuous
Housing Reconstruction Continuous

3.2 Capacity Building and Monitoring:

The programme requires acomprehensive technical assistance program to upgrade the existing
implementation capacity of the following subcomponents:

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 Land Dispute Resolution pertaining to the housing reconstruction
Skills Training for Construction
Technical Assistance (TA) for Management Information Systems
Continuous Social Impact Assessment
Follow-up Environmental Impact Assessment
Technical Audit of Construction
(Note: The last three are also monitoring functions)

a. Land Ownership Resolution and Grievance Processes :

The program will have to support the engagement of Provincial Land Commissioner’s Office to
strengthen its capacity.

b. Skills-training for Construction:

Skill training will be conducted in three stages.
a. Skill Training for the Locally available Youths
b. Skill Training for the traditional construction workers
c. Skill Training for the beneficiaries

a. There is a shortage of construction labor in the North. At least,2000 skilled labourers to be trained
during the programme period. This will decrease the costs of construction in the long run. It is
estimated that one third of the estimated cost for the construction of a houses goes towards labor
due to the scarcity of skilled labor which is often imported from the South.
Training courses will be held locally in each district, each site training 20-60 skilled workers such as
masons or carpenters at a time, depending on the capacity of the training venues. Participants will be
recruited from that district in proportion to the extent of housing damage in that district. The number of
participants per districts will be in proportion to the amount of houses constructed per district (Table 2.5)

b. Considerable number of traditional construction workers are available locally, who do not know the
low cost and modern construction technologies, witch is most applicable for the housing
construction. The Implementing unit will train those traditional construction workers in modern
construction technologies which could be utilized for this programme effectively. The programmes
will be shorter, probably 2 to 3 days training camp.

c. Since beneficiaries reconstruct their houses on their own, they need short training in construction
management, beneficiaries contribution, materials procurement, materials preserving and
minimization of wastages. So, the implementing unit will train in three stages probably before the
construction of foundation, roofing and finishing. The programme will be short and each may be one
day.
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e. Technical Assistance for Program Implementation:

This includes the following five activities:

i.Communication Strategy:
The programme needs the development and implementation of an information dissemination campaign,
its materials, and subsequent implementation. The objective is to increase the transparency of the
program. The communication strategy will cover, amongst others, topics such as the purpose of housing
damage assessment and social verification survey, criteria for determining fully and partly damaged
houses, beneficiary eligibility conditions, financial entitlement, process of financial disbursement and
proposed opportunities for redressing their grievances. The targeted audience for these service include
Village Rehabilitation Committees, Beneficiaries, and the general public. The communications campaign
will be done by the project staff.

ii. Continuous Social Impact Assessment

This programme will arrange for a Continuous Social Impact Assessment (CSIA). The CSIA will
facilitate the articulation of community perceptions, grievances and feedback vis-à-vis the selection of
villages, the identification of beneficiaries and the mobilization of resources.

The continuous SIA will help monitor the social dimensions of the programme and flag potential
reputational risks. Through direct interaction with the beneficiary communities it will carry out an
independent evaluation of the implementation of the social safeguards framework and equitable
distribution of program benefits. The essence of the continuous SIA study is that it will gauge the impact
of the program and help the programme to undertake necessary mitigation measures against the negative
impacts. It will help incorporate measures of social soundness, inclusion and equity in the program.

iii. Follow-up Environmental Impact Assessment

This component will ensure proper management of the environmental dimensions of the program, as
explained in previous sections of the report. It will not only identify measures to bring in environmental
sustainability to the program but also identify opportunities to gain economic benefits through use of
local raw material without causing detrimental effects on the environment.

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iv. Technical Audit of Civil Works

The component will develop technical standards for the constructed houses and finance a technical audit
to ensure that construction complies with the developed standards. The activity will audit approximately
5% sample of all beneficiaries and will cover all beneficiary villages. The audit will be carried out during
the course of construction and will include an audit of the quality of construction materials, and
construction at each step of the staged construction process. The reports of this construction audit will be
submitted to the Monitoring Committees. The activity will be carried out during the construction phases
of each of the construction period.

v. Technical Assistance for Management Information System:

The sub-component will assist for the establishment of an MIS. It is important that the administration
units (NEHRU, DPUs, and Divisional administration units) under this program establish an effective and
user friendly management information system (MIS) at the start of the program in order to record and
monitor the information related to program administration and implementation experience. The MIS
should include detailed base line data on both “operational aspects” of the program (number of
beneficiaries, information on their economic and social conditions, construction progress, capacity
building/training programs, human and material resources, environmental issues, land disputes, and other
relevant data) as well as “financial aspects” of the program (funds allocation, commitment,
disbursements, pipeline of households for construction phases, etc.). These data will be collected by
district officers at the village levels and will be monitored and updated regularly during the program
implementation phases. In order to be able to carry out an “ex-post” social and economic impact
assessment of the program during the mid-term review and at the end of the program, it would be
important to monitor the operational aspects of the program (on sample basis) 9 months after the houses
are built.
3.3 Program Management
The nature of the housing reconstruction program, its scale, the coverage area, and the condition of
beneficiaries require that an effective program management and monitoring system to be in place in order
to ensure smooth and successful implementation of the program. The program management and
monitoring will be carried out at the Provincial, Division, and Districts levels.

a. Program Management at the Provincial level—staff arrangement to be discussed

b. Program supervision by Districts and Divisional Secretariat—to be discussed

  17
CHAPTER 4 ‐ PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS AND ROLES OF AGENCIES  

4.1 OVERVIEW

The overall responsibility of the project will be with the Ministry of Economic Development,
Government of Sri Lanka. While the Ministry of ED will review the project from time to time, it is
primarily responsible for the coordination of the project with ongoing and future development programs
in the North . The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) will be fully responsible for the implementation of
the Program.

NEHRU will be the main program implementation agency of the NPC. The decentralized implementation
arrangements designed by the Project will entail a great deal of institutional coordination between
NEHRP, District and Divisional Administrations as well as with other agencies. The broad institutional
arrangements and responsibilities of agencies involved in the various components of the program are
discussed below:

4.2 DECISION MAKING PROCESS

The decision making process in the program management is done at various levels. The executing agency
of the Project is Ministry of ED. The National Steering Committee established at the Ministry of ED will
coordinate the project activities and action plans at national level. The Secretary of Ministry of
ED/Hon.Governer of EPC chairs the National Steering Committee. This national steering committee will
include senior officials representing relevant infrastructure line agencies at the Center, province and the
District Secretaries of the North. Included here would be the Central Ministry of Housing, the provincial
Ministry , the National Housing Development Authority.

At the provincial level, there will be a Provincial Program Coordination Committee (PPCC) to oversee
the programme implementation and address bottlenecks. This will meet once in two months and will be
chaired by the Chief Secretary of the North East Provincial Council. It will consist of all District
Secretaries, Secretary to the Provincial Ministry of Rehabilitation, Deputy Chief Secretary/Planning,
Provincial Director of Buildings Department, representatives of the Central Ministry of ED,and
programme officials.

The programme day to day implementation arrangements consists of three integrated but parallel
structures. The PMU, the District Program Units and their Divisional counterparts will implement the
technical aspects of the program. Divisional and District Grievance Redress Committees form the second

  18
set of institutional structures. Program monitoring and supervision will occur through a parallel structure
at National, Provincial, District and Divisional levels, together with a third party technical audit of
construction, the continuous social impact assessment, and the follow-up environmental impact
assessment.

At the district level, there will be a District Coordinating and Monitoring Committee (DCMC). This too
will meet once a month. The DCMC will consist of the District Secretary, Addl. G.A. or ADS, all
Divisional Secretaries, the District Engineer, Senior Divisional Environmental Officer, Deputy Project
Director,and Project Director/District Rehabilitation. Provision will be made to ensure that at least one
woman is on the committee.

At the divisional level, there will be a Divisional Monitoring Committee that will meet once a month.
The Divisional Monitoring Committee will consist of the Divisional Secretary, the Divisional Technical
Officer/Engineer, Divisional Environmental Officer, Divisional Planning Officer, and VRC chairpersons
in that division. Provision will be made to ensure that at least one woman is on the Committee. The
divisional level progress reports will be forwarded to the District Secretary each month.

  19
CHAPTER  5: OPERATIONAL COST 
The Indian grant will cover the total cost of construction of houses. The operational cost will be met by the
GOSL. The following operational cost will be provided from the consolidated fund.

Total Cost of the Project (In Sri Lankan Rupees)

a. Housing

i. Cluster Programme – 1,000 x 0.6 mn = 600.00 mn

ii. Housing Repair - 10,000 x 0.2 mn = 2,000.00 mn

iii. Normal programme - 40,000 x 0.6 mn = 24,000.00 mn

Sub Total = 26,600.00 mn

b. Skill Training (2000 youths+ 2000 traditional Skill Workers) = 100.00 mn

c. *Incremental expenditure (4%) = 798.00 mn

Grant total = 27, 498.00 mn

*Incremental expenditure

Third Party Independent Technical Audit Consultancy Service

Independent Social Impact Assessment Consultancy service

Individual Consultants

Equipment

Vehicles

Staff

Day to day expenditure

  20
CHAPTER 6 ‐ OPERATIONAL INSTRUCTIONS 
Housing Reconstruction Programme in the Northern Province under the assistance
from the Government of India.

Minutes of the Meeting

Venue : District Secretariat, Kilinochchi

Date : 13.09.2010 Time : 3.00pm

Attendance

1. Mr.A.Sivaswamy    ‐  Chief Secretary, NP 
2. Mr.S.Rangarajah     ‐  Secretary to the Governor, NP 
3. Mr.R.Umakanthan    ‐  Deputy Chief Secretary,Planning ,NP 
4. Mr.A.E.S.Rajendra    ‐  Secretary,M/Infrastructure, NP 
5. Mr.S.M.Croos      ‐  Programme Director,NECCDEP 
6. Mr.N.Vethanayagam    ‐  Government Agent,Mullaitivu 
7. Mr.R.Ketheeswaran    ‐  Government Agent ,Kilinochchi 
8. Mr.S.Mohanathan    ‐  Addl.Govt.Agent ,  Mannar 
9.   Mr.N.Thiruganasampanthar   ‐  Addl.Govt.Agent ,  Vavuniya 
10. Mr.V.Sampasivam    ‐  Deputy Project Director, NEHRP, Jaffna 
11. Mr.J.X.Selvanayagam    ‐  Asst.Project Director, NEHRP 
12. Mr.P.Thayananda    ‐  Commissioner. D/Land Adm 
13. Mr.S.Achuthan     ‐  R/ACLG, Vavuniya 
14. Mr.T.Mugunthan    ‐  Asst.Govt.Agent,  Palai 
15. Mr.K.S.Vasanthakumar   ‐  Asst.Govt.Agent,  Poonagari 
 

Hon.Governor presided over the meeting. At the outset he explained that, arrangements have to be made 
for  reconstruction  and  repairs  of  fully  and  partly  damage  housing  for  resettlements  families  in  the 
Northern Province under financial assistance by the Government of India.  
 

He further explained that, the Indian assistance would provide the resettled IDP families after May 2009 in 
the North who meets accepted criteria with improved and affordable housing units. 

Indian Government would facilitate the reconstruction of 50,000 houses in the Northern Province through 
the provision of housing grants.  

  21
 

1. Implementation Arrangements 
 
  The programme will be implemented in two stages. 

• Construction of 1,000 cluster houses in relocated areas on turn by basis. 
• Construction of 50,000 houses under home owner driven model. This will be implemented 
in two stages. 
(a) Repairs of 10,000 houses in both Jaffna and Vanni electorate as pilot project. 
(b) Reconstruction of 40,000 new houses.  
 

Accept  for  the  1,000  houses  under  directed  system  all  the  other  houses  following  the  NEHRP 
model. For this purpose PTF & Indian High Commission has agreed project design on 6th Sep.2010. 
Details of selection of beneficiaries, implementation system, etc have been explained in this agreed 
document. Coping will be distributed to all the Government Agents. 
 

2. Construction of 1,000 cluster  houses in relocated area 
 
a. Selection of beneficiaries 

Under this stage, landless IDPs will be identified and be resettled in newly identified habitable areas. 
The  most  vulnerable  groups  will  be  given  priority  among  the  land  less  under  this  programme  as 
indicated below. 

(a) Widows 
(b) Single headed house holds 
(c) Differently able 
(d) Infirm as result of old age 
(e) Infirm as s result of injury  
(f) Families below the poverty line 
 
      These criteria are more explained in the agreed project design document. 

Government  Agents  have  already  identified  the  beneficiaries  and  land  for  housing      scheme  .  The 
District wise apportionments for 1050 cluster houses as follows:  

Jaffna     –  150 

Kilinochchi   –  326 

Mullaitivu   –  200  

Mannar   –  175 

Vavuniya   –  200 

  

 
  22
    b. Role of NEHRP 

NEHRP  will be the implementing agency coordinating the programme.The implementation system will 
be adjusted to accommodate the implementation & monitoring concern of the Indian Government. The 
routine technical supervision, certification for payment etc. will be carried out by NEHRP. In the case of 
direct execution of 1,000 houses NEHRP will appropriately place monitoring system conforming to the 
condition in the contract between Indian Government and the contract firm. 

3. Repairs of 10,000 houses in both Jaffna and Vanni electorate Districts. 
 
Hon.Governor  mentioned  that,  repairs  of  10,000  partly  damaged  houses  will  be  undertaken 
immediately. Electorate wise apportionment will be as follows. 

Jaffna electorate 

1. Jaffna District    –  2000 houses 
2. Kilinochchi     –  3000 houses  
Sub total       5000 
 
Vanni electorate 

1. Mullaitivu    ‐  2500 houses 
2. Vavuniya     ‐  1250 houses 
3. Mannar    ‐  1250 houses 
Sub total      5000 

     Beneficiaries will be selected according to the criteria explained in the project design   

     agreed on  6th Sep.2010 with Indian High Commission. 

    4.Release of funds for repair 

    A sum of Rs.200,000 would provide for the repairs in 3 stages as indicated below. 

Stage  1  –50%  of  cash  (Rs.100,000)  will  deposit  to  the  beneficiaries  bank  account  before  pre 
commencement of work. 

Stage 2  ‐ Another 40% (Rs.80,000) will provide at the 1st stage completion. 

Stage 3 – Balance 10% (Rs.20,000) will provide at the final stage. 

   5.List  of beneficiaries 

   With the current system of NEHRP selection of beneficiaries, priority list of beneficiaries   

   should be submitted before 15th October 2010. 

  23
    6.Monitoring System 

    Hon. Governor explained that, there will l be three level monitoring during the   

    construction work. 

• NEHRP monitoring system  
• Provincial council monitoring system – by a team Consisting of Chief Secretary, Secretary to the 
Governor and Secretary, Ministry of Infrastructure 
• District monitoring team – team under the leadership of relevant District Secretaries.  
 

7.Regulating Material Supply 

    Government Agents should make local arrangement according to the District situation to   

    ensure quality building materials are supplied at lower cost. The district housing   

    committee may appropriately engaged agencies including Cooperative societies to   

    provide the materials at local level. 
 

     8.Construction of 40,000 New Houses 

     Construction of 40,000 new houses will be stared after the repairs of 10,000 housing unit  

     as pilot .Details will be workout later. 
 

     9.Operation Instruction. 

    Hon. Governor directed that detail operation instruction to be sent out by the NEHRP. The  

    following immediate operational arrangements were agreed. 

i) Priority beneficiaries’ selection 
 
Since the demand for repair of new houses is expected to win more using NEHRP application form( 
as modified to this project) will be obtain from eligible beneficiaries. Application form was modified 
and  handed  over  to  Government  Agents  at  the  meeting.  On  the  basis  of  declaration  by 
beneficiaries initial assessment will  be done by  the  team of 3  members, one  rep. from Divisional 
Secretary, one member of VRC and Technical Officer will recommend the quantum of assistance. In 
the  case  of  houses  the  assessment  of  which  may  be  difficult  an  Engineers  of  NEHRP  personally 
inspect the houses and recommend quantum of assistance. For this purpose a long list of eligible 
beneficiaries  will  be  supplied  by  Divisional  Secretaries  to  the  team.  Based  on  the  details  of  the 
assessment form using they points system explained in the payment document. The beneficiaries 
will be ranked and prioritize. The prioritize beneficiaries list should be sent to the PTF through the 
Hon. Governor before 15th October 2010. 
 
  24
 ii) Technical Officers and Engineers 
 

The  NEHRP  will  assign  5  Technical  Officers  to  each  district  to  engage  in  the  damage  estimation 
work. In addition NEHRP will hire 5 Engineers for short term to engage in this task. 

It was pointed out at least 3 experience engineers will be needed to certify the payment vouchers. 

It was suggested in view the shortage of Engineers to induct the services of Engineering students to 
sat the final exam who could be quickly trained in consultation with Peredeniya University. 
 

iii) Documentation 
 

Following the NEHRP principles individual case file will be maintained in respect of each beneficiary 
from the start. 

iv) Grievance redresses system 
As experience in the past enormous number of complaint will be received on repairs of houses, the 
Government Agents were requested to strictly adhere to the system and maintain proper records 
in  respect  of  all  the  graveness  reported  and  the  manner  in  which  they  were  shorted  out.  The 
records should be available for future verification. 
 

v) Overhead 
 

The Government Agents agreed to meet the initial cost of stationary and printing of forms except 
for  Kilinochchi  and  Mullaitivu  Districts.  Other  Districts  will  print  their  own  assessment  forms. 
NEHRP  will  print  and  distribute  forms  to  Kilinochchi  and  Mullaitivu  Districts.  The  Chief  Secretary 
was requested to make arrangement within the period. Indian High Commission to meet the other 
overhead particularly the salaries of Engineers, hiring and maintenance of vehicle etc. 

vi) Logistic 
 

Since  the  implementation  period  will  be  the  peak  implementation  period  of  normal  programme. 
Special attention has to be paid and specific arrangement should be made regard to mobility and 
engineering staff in order to prevent set back in the NEHRP programme which should be completed 
before December 2010. 

A.Sivaswamy 

Chief Secretary 

Northern Province 
  25