Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter said his organisation, Jimmy Carter Work Project, a partner of the Habitat for Humanity’s Programme to build houses for the needy, is committed to construct houses for tsunami-affected people.
Handing over 13 houses, each built at a cost of around Rs.2 lakh, to the people of Anumanthai Kuppam in the Villupuram district near here along the ECR, Mr. Carter said, “It is not a sacrifice for us to come here but a pleasure and an opportunity.”
“Although we were not affected, the people of the U.S. grieved with you and we are committed to build the houses,” he added.
He further said that he and his wife, Rosalynn, would be going to Thailand to visit the tsunami-hit areas there.
Thanking the villagers, predominantly farmers and fishermen, for their hospitality and for entertaining him and his wife, he said, ” I too am a farmer. My wife and I cultivate maize and peanuts.”
Another 36 houses are being constructed in five villages near the Anumanthai Kuppam, said Vincent Solomon, project manager of Habitat for Humanity.
Each house has a built area of 310 sq. feet and some of them have lavatories inside while others have them adjacent to the house. Similar houses are being constructed by the Habitat for Humanity’s programme in Nagapattinam, Chidambaram and Kanchipuram districts of Tamil Nadu. 111 houses have been completed in the Killai village of Chidamabaram. 366 houses at Vedaranayam in Nagapattinam and another 181 at Alambathur in Kanchipuram are under various stages of construction, he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Villupuram Collector Ashish Chatterjee said the government had decided to relocate people living in vulnerable areas prone to natural calamities.
