Under the guidance of Ministry
of Housing & Construction, the National Housing Development
Authority (NHDA) with the assistance of German Technical
Co-operation (GTZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry
of Economic Corporation and Development has published
Guideline for Post Disaster Housing in Coastal Sri Lanka.
The primary objective of this guideline is to cater to the
needs of all categories of actors involved in the
post-tsunami re-housing endeavors within the coastal belt.
At the same time, the need to address other, more frequent
natural disasters such as cyclones and floods is also
recognized. As an initial step, the disaster-resistance
issues that primarily affect the coastal belt of Sri Lanka,
is given high priority.
The Guideline is intended to cover the technical
requirements relating to several natural disasters that
might affect the coastal belt, such as tidal wave, earth
tremors, floods and high winds.
The Guideline contains two sections: Section 1 deals with
Sri Lankan building guidelines applicable to the coastal
belt. These are culled from the relevant guidelines issued
by the Urban Development Authority (UDA), local authorities
and the Coast Conservation Department (CCD).
Section 2 deals with “best practices” in the areas of
participatory development approach, settlement planning,
neighborhood and housing layout for energy efficiency and
thermal comfort, sustainable design, appropriate use of
materials, disaster-resistant housing and best practices in
the provision of infrastructure services.
While the former presents a quick guide to the current
statutory provisions with respect to housing in the coastal
belt, the latter is a distillation of the collective wisdom
of key stakeholders in the area of housing provision. This
is culled from stakeholders as diverse as academia,
professional organizations, non-governmental actors,
grass-root activists and users. It is hoped that the second
section would grow over time, leading to a more rounded
codification of best practices in the area of post-disaster
housing reconstruction.
Both sections of the document
are presented in the simplest possible manner for easy
reference by key stakeholders involved in the reconstruction
efforts. This
Guideline will cover the main aspects such as institutional
arrangements of housing development in coastal Sri Lanka,
settlement planning, housing designs, technology and
materials etc.
The NHDA and the GTZ are
planning to ceremonial launch this Guideline on 25th
January 2006 at Bandaranaike Memorial International
Conference Hall, Colombo, Sri Lanka at 3.30 p.m.
