03 December 2010

An innovative housing project to help an urban community in need was launched today (14 October) at an event at SAPSRI head office in Colombo.

The project will provide loans to 20 families living in the slum settlements of Moratuwa, Colombo, to enable them to construct new houses or upgrade existing ones. It is a pioneering initiate taken by two Sri Lankan commercial banks, HSBC and Lanka Financial Services for Underserved Settlements (LFSUS), and SAPSRI.

The event marked the inauguration of the project by handing over the cheques the families. The families were joined by CEO of HSBC, Mr Nick Nicalau, Chair of LFSUS, Mr Chandula Abeywickrama and ED of SAPSRI, Dr Padma Ratnayake, who all gave a short speech about the project. A representative from the families also talked about the project and the difference it will make to people’s lives.

This project has a unique approach that could provide a sustainable model for the improvement of urban communities across the country. Indeed, it is part of a wider programme that will run to 2012. Under this programme, loans have already been provided to 35 families living in the slum settlements of Kirulapura and Siddharthapura to enable them to upgrade their houses. The first round of loans has been distributed and 100% of repayments made. Dr Padma Ratnayake said: ‘This is a new area of work for us and we have been impressed by the commitment and zeal show by the people to the project. Within a month of receiving the money the families had constructed the houses.’

SAPSRI has been working in the Colombo slum areas since 2005, when, together with HSBC, it implemented a project to provide microcredit to women entrepreneurs to help them build their businesses.