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

struggle. The joint family, which is created by several nuclear families livingunder one roof as one unit, is not considered a legal family unit(Goonesekera 1990: 158). So even if the head of household concept isrejected, female heads and other sub-families living in a joint family willcontinue to have legal problems because they reside in a family setting thatis not legally recognised (See Table 4 below).Access to Compensation: Land TenureUnder the house-to-house rule, previous ownership of land is irrelevant togetting one’s name on a list and obtaining housing compensation. The policyis a house for a house regardless of land tenure. Therefore, while a familyrenting accommodation is not entitled to compensation; the landlord is 14 .The house-to-house policy essentially regularised encroachments, qualifyingsquatters for a new house to replace one destroyed by the tsunami. Table 4below shows the land tenure arrangements of 252 families and whether ornot they received compensation.Table 4: Land tenure at the time of the tsunamiLand tenurearrangementat the time ofthe tsunamiFHH(Total N)Did notreceivecompensation(N)Notreceivingcompensationasa % oftotalNon-FHH(TotalN)**Did notreceivecompensationNotreceivingcompensationasa % oftotalHeld landpermit or land 4 2 50% 3 3 100%grantLiving in ajoint family 6 3 50% 19 15 79%situationOwnership ofland6 3 50% 9 3 33%Renting 18 6 33% 21 14 66%Squatting 56 34 60% 110 66 60%* Female Headed Households** At the time of the interview two of the respondents had very complicated tenure arrangementsthat did not fit into any of these categories14The protection given to renters under the Tsunami Act was that their tenancy agreement withthe landlord could not be cancelled. However in most cases, once a landlord rebuilt a home, s/hewould not rent again to the same tenants.189