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[May 9, 2005 - 9.45 GMT] The Presidential Taskforces for Relief (TAFOR) and Rebuilding the Nation (TAFREN) in an update on tsunami relief work said providing housing for the affected families has to be done in three different stages. The first stage consisted of providing immediate Emergency Shelters such as tents, which were easiest to obtain, transport and install. The second stage is to move each family to a Transitional House, which is more comfortable than a tent and can be used till permanent houses are constructed. The third stage is the building of permanent houses. According to the Chairman of TAFREN, Mano Tittawella, “rebuilding around 77,561 damaged and partially damaged houses in a short time is a daunting task since the total number of houses constructed in the entire country per year adds up to about four to eight thousand only”. He further said Sri Lanka has received pledges from 194 donors for a total of about 97, 000 Permanent Housing Units and that construction has already started on 2,325 permanent houses. A TAFOR and TAFREN joint communiqué states that damage assessment teams have been deployed in the affected Districts. Depending on the extent of the damage, grants of Rs. 100,000 to 250,000 are available to tsunami-affected families to rebuild their houses. Up to date over 5000 families have received their first installment of Rs. 50,000 through State Banks. TAFOR and TAFREN were formed to accelerate post-tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction in all affected sectors including housing by engaging the primary stakeholders: the affected, donor agencies that have pledged funds for reconstruction work, implementing organizations such as NGOs, government ministries and agencies that carry out the reconstruction work.
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