DOHA: A Qatari charitable body has built houses for many affected people in a war-ravaged village in Sri Lanka.
Jassim and Hamad Bin Jassim Charitable Foundation built 446 houses for the displaced people in Marichchokaddy area in Mannar district. The houses were handed over to the families on Friday.
The first phase of the ‘Jassim City’ includes housing units, mosques, a hospital and a shopping complex. The project will be completed in four phases with 2000 houses.
It was inaugurated by Isaq Ahmed Hassim, from Jassim and Hamad Bin Jassim Charitable Foundation. The project is implemented in collaboration with Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Foundation for Humantirain Services (Raf), Ministry of Awqaf and Sheikh Eid Charity.
Each housing unit included two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom and coast QR 21,000. While, electricity and water services to the houses are provided by the Sri Lankan government. The houses with official documents were handed over to the families in the presence of Sri Lanka’s Minister of Industries and Trade Rishard Badurdeen.
“These people have returned to Mannar after many years of displacement. Many mosques and schools were destroyed during the war in this area in addition to 20,000 houses,” said Badurdeen.
He also said that there are around 2000 orphans in the area who need care and support which would cost around $2m.
The delegation from Jassim and Hamad Bin Jassim Charitable Foundation also entered into an agreement with the Sri Lankan government yesterday to build 554 houses in the second phase of the project worth QR10m.
Around 10 percent are Muslims among the 20.48 million populations in Sri Lanka. An estimated 70,000 Muslims were internally displaced in the northern region of the country during a three decade long civil war.
However, only between 8,000 and 10,000 have returned to their homes according to the government.
The Peninsula
