Gampaha records remarkable progress

by Dhaneshi YATAWARA

Over the last few years, Gampaha as a district has achieved tremendous development. Considering the last five years, the Government has incurred massive expenditure for the overall development of the district encompassing the construction and repairing of roads, irrigation, agriculture, education, water supply, housing, electricity supply, fisheries industry, upgrading of welfare activities as well as raising the economic standards of the community, improving the tourism industry and government service.

Since 2006 the number of development projects has been on the increase. In 2006, 2,430 projects were implemented in the Gampaha District at a total cost of Rs. 3,937.4 million. In 2007, the number of projects implemented was 3,464 at a cost of Rs. 4935.8 million. The year after (2008), 4,776 projects were implemented at a cost of Rs. 6,896.05 million. Last year the Government implemented 5,489 projects covering all development aspects, spending Rs. 6,839.55 million.

Gampaha, the area of five villages, comprises 1,177 Grama Niladhari Divisions in 13 DS Divisions, namely Divulapitiya, Katana, Negombo, Minuwangoda, Mirigama, Attanagalle, Gampaha, Je-Ela, Wattala, Mahara, Dompe and Biyagama.

According to the 2008 estimates of the District Secretariat’s Office, 2,285,442 is the total population of the district out of which 1,474,464 are registered voters. Nearly 340,000 people are employed in the private sector while 95,000 are Government servants. Over 50,000 people are working abroad with most of them reportedly from Negombo.

Gampaha is a vast area starting from the Western coastal belt and spreads inland covering an area of 1,386.7 square kilometres. Gampaha is rich in resources - both material and human. Divulapitiya DS Division has the largest land area in the district. 14.6 per cent of the total land area of the total land, 56.2 per cent of the land is covered by home gardens, buildings, reservoirs, barren lands and forests. Gampaha is rich in mineral resources and one may find sand, granite, clay, graphite and other similar products widely available in the area.

Explaining the progress of the district, Government Agent/ District Secretary P.A. Abeysekara said that electricity is provided to 98 per cent of the district and soon will reach 100 per cent with the accelerated development programs conducted under Government guidance and supervision.

“The number of houses in the district has increased to over 521,000 over the last few years, Abeysekara said. Providing safe drinking water and electricity are two main projects successfully conducted under the Ministry of Nation Building.

Major projects

Of the major projects in the Gampaha district, the Kerawalapitiya Power Generation Project is of greater national interest. This would be the second largest thermal combined power plant of the country. The project is estimated to add 300MW to the national grid out of which 200MW will be generated using furnace oil and the balance using steam emanated from the plant. The first phase of the project was opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in December 2008.

Construction of the Colombo-Katunayake expressway and the tunnel at Kadawatha as a part of the Outer Colombo Circular road is taking place on an accelerated basis.

On January 18, the flyover in Gampaha which commenced in 2005, was opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Government has spent Rs. 300 million for the four-lane flyover which is 410 metres in length and 15 metres in width.

Considering the fishing community living mostly in the coastal areas of the Gampaha district, the Negombo Fishing Harbour was upgraded last year.

Roads

Road development could be considered as a key area for any country’s development. In this regard, the Government has spent Rs. 10,826.50 million for the development of roads in the district under 189 projects during the last four years. Accordingly, under the ‘Gama Neguma’ and ‘Maga Neguma’ development schemes, 27 projects were implemented in 2006 at a cost of Rs. 1,291.7 million. In 2007, the Government implemented 93 projects, spending Rs. 2,334.8 million funds worth Rs. 2,268 million was spent on 51 projects in 2008 while Rs. 4,932 million worth of projects in 2009 were implemented. To develop rural roads, the Government implemented 7,458 projects at a cost of Rs. 2,000.5 million. As a result of these development work, most of the muddy and sandy roads in the district have now been replaced with concrete roads.

To carry out road development programs effectively, the ‘Ran Aruna’ program is implemented in the district by the Ministry of Highways and Road Development. According to the information available with the Ministry, 145 kilometres will be reconstructed using asphalt overlaying, better known as carpeting. The entire project costs Rs. 2,200 million. Another 114 kilometres are repaired and reconstructed under the DBST system at a cost of Rs. 1,700 million. Using the sand sealing method, 123 kilometres of roads will be re-constructed and another 739 kilometres using the mortar grading system.

Agriculture

To upgrade the agriculture sector of Gampaha, the Government has renovated a number of irrigation schemes during the past few years, helping the farming communities to grow more and earn more. The Government has renovated 703 irrigation projects at a cost of Rs. 208.33 million, during the past five years.

To support the farmer communities, the Government has implemented 118 agricultural development projects at a cost of Rs. 173.3 million in 2006 and 89 projects in 2007 at a cost of Rs. 54.1 million. In 2008, another 104 projects were implemented at a cost of Rs. 83 million and in 2009, at a cost of Rs. 122 million 69 projects were implemented.

Today, the blocked irrigation canals are cleared, enabling a continuous water supply to the paddy fields and arable lands. “With these developments, the farmers were able to cultivate 4000 acres of abandoned paddy fields during this period,” the District Secretary added.

Apart from paddy cultivation, fruits comprise a major portion in the agriculture sector. “The rambutan cultivation expanded to 8000 acres during the past few years; it was around 500 acres five years ago,” Abeysekara said. Cultivation is mostly distributed in the Dompe, Biyagama, Gampaha, Divulapitiya and Attanagalla DS Divisions. A village dedicated for durian cultivation will be established in Divulapitiya. Pineapple is grown in 1500 ha in the district.

“The next largest cultivation is flowers for the local as well as export markets,” Director Planning District Secretariat Luxman Hewapanne said adding that 22 societies of flower cultivators are in Gampaha. “Cultivation is carried out in a variety of levels - large, medium and small scale. We find it the most popular enterprise in the district,” Hewapanne said.

Education

It is the vision of the Government to make Gampaha the country’s knowledge and Information Technology hub. Thus, upgrading the existing school network at the initial stage and then gliding on to an advanced stage of establishing new schools is the present line of thinking of the decision makers. To do so, existing schools are equipped with state-of-the-art technology and updated knowledge to meet the world demands of education.

Centering the Gampaha district, the Government implemented 853 projects at a cost of Rs. 788.2 million to uplift educational facilities during the last fiver years.

The Government spent Rs. 247 million for 192 projects in 2006, Rs. 231.5 million for 154 projects in 2007, Rs. 277 million for 63 projects in 2008 and Rs. 32.7 million for 174 projects in 2009, for educational uplifting in the district during this period.

Healthy living

The lack of safe drinking water has become a major problem for Gampaha in the recent past. Bringing a solution to provide adequate water to meet the people’s requirements helps to create a healthy society. Under the Government’s vision, provision of water takes a prime place. During the last five years, the Government implemented 273 water supply schemes at a cost of Rs. 1,221.7 million to meet this basic need of the people in the Gampaha district.

It is the Government’s objective to build a healthy nation through the development of health facilities. With this objective, the Government implemented 303 health development projects throughout the Gampaha district during the last five years, at a cost of Rs. 844.7 million. Seventy nine such projects were implemented in 2006 at a cost of Rs. 170.4 million, 123 projects at a cost of Rs. 358.9 million in 2007, 20 projects at a cost of Rs. 261.4 million in 2008 and 81 projects at a cost of Rs. 54.0 million in 2009.

Fisheries sector

The Government implemented 151 projects at a cost of Rs. 390.5 million for assisting the populace depending on the fisheries industry along the beautiful coastal belt covering Katana, Negombo, Ja-Ela and Wattala, and for the people depending on fishery-related activities in the banks of the Kelani River and various water-clogged areas throughout the district.

Two fishery development projects were implemented in 2006 at a cost of Rs.78.6 million, 242 projects at a cost of Rs. 21.21 million in 2007, 1232 projects at a cost of Rs. 720.5 million in 2008 and 1177 projects at a cost of Rs. 475.9 million were implemented in 2009.

Tourism

Three districts of the Western Province which attracts foreign visitors is situated in the Gampaha district. The coastal belt of Negombo, which is also renowned as Little Rome, takes prime position in this regard. There are 490,013 families living in this area.

The amount spent by the Government for uplifting the tourist industry in the Gampaha district during the last four years amounted to Rs. 886.3 million. This was spent for the implementation of 235 projects.

Sixty four tourist development projects were implemented in 2006 at a cost of Rs. 249.7 million, 48 projects at a cost of Rs. 104.5 million in 2007, 67 projects at a cost of Rs. 513.6 million in 2008 and 56 projects at a cost of Rs. 18.5 million in 2009.

Urban development

To undertake infrastructure development of the district centred with the 13 Divisional Development Secretariat Divisions, the Government spent Rs. 44.75 million and implemented 1009 projects throughout the Gampaha District during the period. Accordingly, 286 such projects were implemented in 2006 at a cost of Rs. 155.2 million, 169 projects at a cost of Rs. 116.5 million in 2007, 299 projects at a cost of Rs. 111.25 million in 2008 and 273 projects at a cost of Rs. 58.8 million in 2009.

Good governance

For the improvement of government services in the district, the Government implemented 29 projects during the period and the expenditure incurred in this regard amounted to Rs. 243.2 Million.

Twelve such projects were implemented in 2006 at a cost of Rs. 18.4 million, seven projects at a cost of Rs. 20.6 million in 2007, three projects at a cost of Rs. 91.7 million in 2008 and seven projects at a cost of Rs. 112.5 million in 2009.