Oct 06, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has identified blocks of state land in 15 locations in Colombo to build housing units for the shanty dwellers in the capital city.

The Cabinet has granted approval to a proposal put forward by the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Defence and Urban Development to vest the identified blocks of land with the Urban Development Authority.

The Urban Development Authority has planned to construct 65,000 Housing Units for resettlement of shanty dwellers living in under-served settlements in the City of Colombo.

Under the City of Colombo Development Plan, the government is to construct high rise apartments with all common amenities to resettle the shanty dwellers and to free the prime land currently squatted by them for commercial and mixed development projects.

The Urban Development Authority has already awarded contracts to build 9,781 Housing Units under 11 projects within the City of Colombo, the government said. The construction work is already in progress and is expected to be completed within the next 2 years.