{"id":117369,"date":"2013-12-24T07:26:26","date_gmt":"2013-12-24T01:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=117369"},"modified":"2014-01-05T19:10:44","modified_gmt":"2014-01-05T13:40:44","slug":"ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"Ensure Transparent Development Plan For Evicted Urban Dwellers &#8211; Friday Forum"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Friday+Forum&amp;x=9&amp;y=5\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Friday Forum<\/span><\/a> recalls the government assurance that all urban dwellers recently evicted for purposes of urban development would receive adequate, alternative housing in the vicinity from which they were evicted.<\/p>\n<p>Issuing a statement on behalf of the Friday Forum,\u00a0Bishop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Duleep+de+Chickera&amp;x=9&amp;y=4\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Duleep de Chickera<\/span><\/a> and\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=JC+Weliamuna\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">JC Weliamuna<\/span><\/a>\u00a0appealed to the Government\u00a0to ensure a transparent development plan.<\/p>\n<p>We publish below the statement in full;<\/p>\n<p><b>Marginalising the Marginalised \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_58627\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/dulip-chikera-colombo-telegraph1-150x150.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-58627\" class=\"size-full wp-image-58627\" alt=\" Bishop Duleep de Chickera\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/dulip-chikera-colombo-telegraph1-150x150.jpg\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/dulip-chikera-colombo-telegraph1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/dulip-chikera-colombo-telegraph1-150x150-50x50.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-58627\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bishop Duleep de Chickera<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Friday Forum recalls the government assurance that all urban dwellers recently evicted for purposes of urban development would receive adequate, alternative housing in the vicinity from which they were evicted. Income from these urban development projects was to be utilised to construct suitable housing units. Therefore, the evicted persons should be benefited from the urban development projects. The fulfilment of this assurance is crucial if we are to ensure that Colombo does not become only a city for the affluent.<\/p>\n<p>Friday Forum therefore welcomes the recent completion of housing units at the Dematagoda, Mihindupura scheme for these evicted urban dwellers from very low income communities.\u00a0 There may be other similar schemes planned elsewhere.\u00a0 Reports however of the monetary requirements of an up-front payment of Rs. 50,000\/- followed with another Rs. 50,000\/- within three months of occupancy, are worrying.<\/p>\n<p>The government is more than aware that many of those evicted do not have access to this amount of money. They could consequently be driven into debt or corrupt deals with shadow owners. Reports that some who cannot find this quantum of money have already moved into similar communities within the city and from which they are likely to be evicted once again, are equally worrying.<\/p>\n<p>Much more serious is the real possibility that those with no claims to these units but with political affiliations with the ruling parties will be given the housing that those entitled to these units cannot afford to pay for.<\/p>\n<p>Friday\u00a0Forum has learnt of one instance where the government has failed to implement the undertaking previously given to the Supreme Court that the evicted urban community would receive alternative housing at the Mihindupura housing complex. \u00a0Several of these persons evicted from Mews Street, Slave Island, have apparently been denied housing as initially promised\u00a0and are now\u00a0promised\u00a0housing in another location.<i> <ins cite=\"mailto:CJ\" datetime=\"2013-12-22T22:18\"><\/ins><\/i><\/p>\n<p>With these questions and concerns in mind the Friday Forum asks the government to clarify the current status of those evicted under its urban development plan and confirm that those with no claims are not in occupation of these units. Friday Forum also urges that that the advance payment of Rs. 100,000\/- be waived since capital expenditure for these units was to be met with public income from investments.\u00a0 As prescribed, only a reasonable monthly rent of 3,900\/- must be collected for a period of twenty years, after which the chief occupant will obtain ownership of the premises.<\/p>\n<p>There has been public criticism that these evictions are being used to redefine the demography of some urban areas and therefore there is a need for transparency in selecting specific geographical areas for development as well as the process of relocation. Friday Forum calls upon the government to ensure a transparent development plan which provides for and ensures the participation of representatives of the affected communities in\u00a0such relocation procedures.<\/p>\n<p>Bishop Duleep de Chickera\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0J.C. Weliamuna<\/p>\n<p>On behalf of Friday Forum<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":58627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,6969,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-popular-stories","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ensure Transparent Development Plan For Evicted Urban Dwellers - Friday Forum - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ensure Transparent Development Plan For Evicted Urban Dwellers - Friday Forum - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-24T01:56:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-01-05T13:40:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/dulip-chikera-colombo-telegraph1-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"150\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"150\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/\",\"name\":\"Ensure Transparent Development Plan For Evicted Urban Dwellers - Friday Forum - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/dulip-chikera-colombo-telegraph1-150x150.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-24T01:56:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-01-05T13:40:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/dulip-chikera-colombo-telegraph1-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/dulip-chikera-colombo-telegraph1-150x150.jpg\",\"width\":\"150\",\"height\":\"150\",\"caption\":\"Bishop Duleep de Chickera\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ensure Transparent Development Plan For Evicted Urban Dwellers &#8211; Friday Forum\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ensure Transparent Development Plan For Evicted Urban Dwellers - Friday Forum - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ensure Transparent Development Plan For Evicted Urban Dwellers - Friday Forum - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2013-12-24T01:56:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-01-05T13:40:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":150,"height":150,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/dulip-chikera-colombo-telegraph1-150x150.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/","name":"Ensure Transparent Development Plan For Evicted Urban Dwellers - Friday Forum - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/dulip-chikera-colombo-telegraph1-150x150.jpg","datePublished":"2013-12-24T01:56:26+00:00","dateModified":"2014-01-05T13:40:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/dulip-chikera-colombo-telegraph1-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/dulip-chikera-colombo-telegraph1-150x150.jpg","width":"150","height":"150","caption":"Bishop Duleep de Chickera"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ensure-transparent-development-plan-for-evicted-urban-dwellers-friday-forum\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ensure Transparent Development Plan For Evicted Urban Dwellers &#8211; Friday Forum"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/dulip-chikera-colombo-telegraph1-150x150.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117369"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117985,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117369\/revisions\/117985"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}