Family takes to living on tree house due to poverty

A family of three children have been living in a hut erected on a huge tree in Ethdatkalla in Mahawilachchiya in Anuradhapura for want of land to build a house.
They said that they were battling different odds to survive and that the threat of wild elephants was a serious danger they face.
The breadwinner of the family S.H. Susantha Kumara said that his family didn’t have a fixed abode or a permanent income; hence they are compelled to build a hut on a tree. 
“This is an area facing the threat of wild elephants. I built this hut on the tree as the last resort. We have a small kitchen at the foot of the tree and we climb down from the top of the hut only to prepare out meals. Marauding herds often roam the village at dusk and we prepare our meals early and enter the hut to spend the night. My eldest son is 18 years old and the youngest is five years old. My daughter is eleven years old. I earn a pittance as a manual worker to maintain my family,” he said.

His wife said that the family had earlier lived in Ratnapura area. However, due to a dispute with relatives, they had been compelled to shift their residence. She said that they were subject to discriminations from the people of this area. 
“A lady known to us got my eldest son admitted to a technical institute about four days ago. My daughter is attending school. A gentleman of the area who shows sympathy on us allowed us to build a house on a block of land belonging to him. However, the villagers complained that this house was within the tank reservation area. However, Mahawilachchiya Divisional Secretary intervened and granted us legal possession of the land. We laid the foundation to build a room on that land, but the construction work has been stalled for want of an income,” she said. 
She further said that the only request they are making is for help to build two rooms on their land.
Susantha Kumara can be visited at this above mentioned land which is situated at Mahawilachchiya Road, 14th mile post in Bandaragama.