Involuntary Displacement and Resettlement — Policy and ... - CEPA

5.1.2.1 Quality and durability of the housesRaw material used for houses can be broadly categorised into three types,materials for roofing, the walls and the floor. These materials can be permanentor temporary. For example, asbestos, tiles and concrete are permanent roofingmaterials but cadjan thatch is temporary. Walls of bricks or cement blocks arepermanent but clay is temporary. In case of flooring, tiles or cement arepermanent but clay is temporary.Before the tsunami only 45% of the households in the sample possessedhouses made out of permanent materials. However, the percentage hassignificantly increased to 84 % among the resettled households, showing asignificant improvement in terms of quality and durability of houses.Table 5.6 Quality of housing materialsPermanent(roof, wall, floor materials)Temporary(roof, wall, floor materials)Combination of permanentand temporaryTotalPre- tsunamiNo. ofPercenthousesNo. ofhousesCurrentPercent71 45 133 8440 25 13 848 30 13 8159100 159 100Approximately half of the resettled households feel that their new houses aredurable and of better quality, 16% feel no difference. However, one third ofthe resettled households complained that the new houses were not asdurable as the previous ones. The most common problems related to housingquality are poorly constructed roofs, cracked walls, weak foundation andpoor quality timber used for doors and windows. Focus group discussionsrevealed the same problems related to housing quality in both Southern andEastern provinces. According to key informants the houses built by thehouseholds themselves are of better quality than the houses built by variousdonors. Only a few donors have delivered good quality durable houses.These donors had consulted the beneficiaries before building and taken their92