North and East, now hubs of prosperity:

Gamata Karmantha gets off the ground

By Mohammed NAALIR

Ready to lay the rail track.

The construction site of the bridge along the Medawachchiya-Madhu railway track

The reconstructed Mannar bridge and causeway

At the Jaffna fair

A home garden developed under Divi Neguma

Sri Lanka is achieving its development goals rapidly when compared to other countries in the region. The Government has speeded up infrastructure and livelihood development projects in the country including in the North and the East.

The North and the East which contained many ghost cities are turning into hubs of prosperity. The people in these provinces have resumed their normal lives.

The Government has taken all possible efforts to develop the North and the East on par with other provinces. The Government has also obtained the assistance of donor countries to speed up projects.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is closely watching the well-being of the people in the North and the East. He has given prominence to develop rural villages and to get rural people involved in national development. The Government has implemented the Gamata Karmantha program to develop the rural villages parallel to the cities. This program has provided attractive incentives to entrepreneurs who chose to start up businesses in rural areas.

Under this program several renowned companies have started factories in rural areas, providing a large number of direct and indirect employment opportunities to rural youth. As a result, the rural economy of this country is improving rapidly.

The Divi Neguma program gives greater incentives to the rural economy and has been expanded to the North and the East.

A large number of rural folks in the two provinces benefit from the Divi Neguma program.

Road development takes a prominent place among infrastructure development projects. Only through successful road development can other sectors be developed. The Government's aim is to provide a good road network in the country including in the North and the East.

A step forward

The railway line from Thandikulam to Omanthai was opened last year. The Northern railway line connects the North and the South and is another step forward in the post-conflict rebuilding of the country.

The entire aggregate requirement for this railway line construction project was provided by the Sri Lanka Air Force under the Northern Spring program.

The construction of the Northern railway line will help expedite the development of the North while providing convenient transport services to the Northern people, Transport Ministry sources said.

Sri Lanka Army engineers supported the Government's ongoing reconstruction of the Northern-bound railway line and responded positively to the challenge.

The construction of the Talaimannar-Medawachchiya railway line is progressing. Moves are afoot to open it in the latter part of 2013.

The Transport Ministry has also signed an agreement with IRCON International Limited, an Indian-based government company, to reconstruct the railway track from Omanthai to Pallai.

The construction work of the Medawachchiya-Madhu railway line is progressing. The formation base is constructed at a cost of US$ 81.31 million, according to Project Director, Medawachchiya-Madhu and Madhu-Talaimannar Projects M.P. Lalith N. Peiris.

He said the required railway tracks and sleeper tracks have already been brought to the site. Ninety percent of the construction work of the formation is now over. Track laying will commence by mid next month after the completion of the construction of formation. Laying of the ABC layer has been completed.

There are 68 culverts and 13 bridges between Medawachchiya and Madhu along the Medawachchiya-Talaimannar railway line.

The 63 kilometre-long Madhu-Talaimannar railway line is in progress and 25 percent of the work is over now. US$ 149 million will be spent for the construction of the formation between Madhu and Talaimannar.

Railway tracks

On the completion of bridges and culverts, the laying of railway tracks will commence, the Project Director said.

The construction work of the Omanthai-Pallai railway line is in progress, Chief Engineer W.P.M. Fernando, Project Director Omanthai-Pallai Railway line is supervising the project.

He said jungle clearing is completed. Soil-related work, laying of the aggregate base course and welding are in progress.

The railway line upto Mankulam will be completed by March 31 next year, upto Kilinochchi by June 30 and upto Pallai by September, according to Chief Engineer, Fernando.

Construction of bridges and culverts along the Omanthai-Pallai road is now in progress.

The Government has implemented several livelihood development projects along the Northern and Eastern coastal belt especially in the Trincomalee district with assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The Cod Bay Fishery Harbour in China Bay, Trincomalee is a gateway to improve the fisheries industry and the living standards of fishermen in the district. All facilities are available in the harbour including fuel.

The Economic Development Ministry invested Rs. 1,768.6 million on various development projects in the Ampara district last year. The Government spent Rs. 54,837 million during the past five years to develop the agriculture sector and fisheries industry and to provide infrastructure facilities in the Batticaloa district.

The Government has also implemented major agricultural development projects in the Mannar district. The Ministry of Economic Development spent Rs. 33,025 million on its provincial development projects implemented with foreign assistance.

The Economic Development Ministry implemented eight mega scale development projects in the North, the East and other provinces. The Mannar bridge and causeway, which connect the island with the mainland, was constructed at a cost of Rs. 2,460 million.

The Government has identified Kuchchaveli in the Trincomalee district as a favourable tourism base and has taken steps to develop this area as a tourism destination.

Tourism authorities have implemented an action plan to improve the tourism industry in the Eastern Province. The three-member committee of Sri Lanka Tourism has signed this action plan. The Ministry will take steps to implement 24 projects in the action plan.