Move to promote people’s livelihood :

Govt steps up development projects in North

by P. Krishnaswamy

The Government has allocated Rs.61,000 million to accelerate the implementation of many development projects in the Jaffna district to promote the livelihood of the people who suffered during the three-decade-long LTTE terrorism, Northern Province Governor Maj. Gen. G.A. Chandrasiri told the Sunday Observer.

Another Rs. 5,000 million has been allocated to the Northern Provincial Council from the budget for development activities in the province, he said.

The Government is focussing mainly on addressing the economic uplift of the Northern community considering that the economic disparity had been the major cause for all social problems in the past, he said.

Jaffna GA Ms Imelka Sukumar said that the Rs. 16,000 million allocation is for many mega projects due to be completed in the next three years. It includes the Rs. 20,000 million Iranamadu Water Supply project for the Northern province, she said.

The other development projects include the enhancement of health and sanitary facilities, development of agricultural and irrigation, renovation of school and hospital buildings and rehabilitation or resettlement, she said. Rs. 1,600 million has been set apart for resettlement of displaced families in the High Security Zones (HSZs), she said.

There are several other projects that have their own funding such as the Indian Housing project, the railway track restoration project, World Bank housing projects and other NGO projects, she said.

Northern PC Chief Secretary’s Office sources said that the Rs.5,000 million allocation will be used for development work under the purview of the Council. Rs. 2,896 million has been allocated for projects that have been prioritised. This will be distributed among the five PC Ministries for the use of 24 departments under its purview, the sources said.

The main focus of the PC will be to develop educational facilities. The other sectors including health, agriculture, road network and infrastructure will also be developed, the sources said.

Apart from the Rs. 5,000 million allocation, the Ministry of Economic Development, other Central Government ministries and INGOs had also provided to PCs a large sum of money for development activities in the province, the sources said.