With entire province teeming with nature's beauty:

Uva, another paradise

By P. Krishnaswamy

Panoramic view of the Puhulwatta Reservoir.

The completed new building for the Moneragala Kachcheri.

The three-storeyed main bus terminal in Badulla under construction.

Excavation process of the Bomuru Ella Irrigation project.

The Uva province is a one-of-a- kind place, with one of the world's best climates found in Bandarawela with hundreds of tourist resorts, the breathtaking Haputale-Beregala and Ella gaps which are nature's grandeur, the hill town of Badulla surrounded by ranges of mountains and hills on all sides with and a mild climate, the jungles of Mahiyangana which are home to the aboriginals and wildlife, the Yala wildlife sanctuary, the Kataragama shrine which draws pilgrims from all over the world, the wonderful waterfalls such as the Diyaluma, Dunhinda and Ravana Ella and many other picturesque tourist destinations. Anyone will find a visit to the region an amazing experience.

Important tourist destinations like the Horton Plains National Park with the World's End, the famous Edison Bungalow built over 100 years ago by the colonial rulers and the 80-foot Boogoda 'Lee Palama' (Timber bridge) constructed by King Walagamba are all located in the Uva province.

Although the province has been lagging behind in development and socio-economic standards for many years since independence, the situation has changed completely under the UPFA administration headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. With the multifarious development programs already implemented and the many more now under implementation, the province is now on par with the other provinces and is fast transforming as a hive of economic, industrial and livelihood activities.

The Government has allocated Rs. 5 billion for development activities in the Moneragala and Badulla districts this year. According to the planning directors of the two districts, the government has allocated Rs. 1,938 Mn for the Moneragala district and Rs. 3,246 Mn for the Badulla district for development activities.

Moneragala District Secretary A. Pathinathan said that the new Secretariat building for the Moneragala district constructed at a cost of Rs. 578 Mn to render a more efficient service to the public will be opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa next month.

A dedicated economic zone with all modern facilities, similar to the one at Dambulla, will be established at Buttala at a cost of Rs. 500 Mn. This will serve as a marketing centre for the agricultural products of the farmers of Wellawaya, Ampara, Siyambalanduwa, Badulla, Kataragama and other neighbouring agricultural areas. An ice factory will be opened at Buttala, with fundings from the Ministry of Economic Development, for the benefit of fishermen engaged in inland freshwater fisheries, the DS said.

A coordinating office of Irrigation and Water Resources Management Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva is functioning at the Badulla Secretariat building, monitoring some of the development programs already implemented and some under implementation and also assisting the public. The Minister's Coordinating Officer Gunapala Illeyapperuma provided all the details relating to major development works.

The Badulla District Hospital has been upgraded and Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva's ambition to make it a teaching hospital is now under consideration. The estimated cost of Rs. 20,000 Mn for the establishment of the Uva Wellassa University has been approved by the Government. The work has already started, including acquisition of land and putting up the buildings.

The foundation stones for the Hali-Ela water project being laid by Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister Dinesh Gunawardana and Uva Governor Nanda Maththew.

The courses conducted at the university are employment-oriented and over 6000 students will receive education in the university, once completed. Already a large number of students are receiving education in the completed units of the university. Since the courses are employment-oriented, the placements of the students, after their convocation, are assured. In fact, there are employers waiting to absorb them into employment, Illeyapperuma said. A significant aspect of the university administration is that no ragging will be permitted under any circumstances, he said. Self-employment courses are also provided under the academic programs of the university , he said. Consequent to the university project, land value has gone up several folds in the region, he said. The postal sector is being modernised in the Badulla district. The Badulla post office will have an auditorium with a/c and seating facilities for 750. An amount of Rs. 600 Mn has been allocated for the project. All bus terminals in the district have also been renovated and modernised at an expenditure of Rs. 300 Mn, he said.

New buildings have been constructed for the bus terminals at Kandegedera, Kahataruppa, Demodera, Attampitiya, Pattiyagoda, Madulsima and Buwakgodumulla, he said. About 50 health clinics have been established in the entire district. The Nelungama water project has been completed at an expenditure of Rs. 500 Mn for providing safe drinking water to the population of the entire Badulla district, he said. The Muthiyangana sacred city project is being completed with a new Vihara, more new roads and a parapet wall at an expenditure of Rs. 100 Mn. Carpeting of roads to an extent of 25 km has already been completed and carpeting of another 25 km will be done this year, he said.

The 'Jana Udana Gammana' project of the Ministry of Housing has been implemented in Haputale, Diyatalawa, Mahiyangana, Giranduru Kotte, Dehiyattakandiya, Passara, Welimada and Bandarawela. New buildings and ambulances have been provided to all rural hospitals, he said.

Over 50 dispensaries that were functioning under the estate managements without qualified doctors or nurses have been taken over by the Government and are now functioning with qualified MBBS doctors, para medics, nurses and labs, providing a much better health service to the people of the plantations. Under the infrastructure development program, the Ratnapura - Badulla Road and the Mahiyangana - Badulla Road have been carpeted while work on the Nuwara-Eliya-Badulla-Chenkalady Road is in progress.

More water projects have been designed. The Badulla Oya will be harnessed with the construction of a reservoir at Demodera. Once this is completed, flooding experienced in the area will be averted and the drinking water problem of the local communities will be resolved.

The Puhulwatte Reservoir program in the Passara electorate will solve the drinking water problem of the local communities. About 100 reservoirs/tanks renovation programs in the Badulla district are in the pipeline and 18 of them have already been completed. Rajarata was known as the 'Wewu bendi rajyaya' (the kingdom of tanks) but the Uva province will now turn out to be the 'Wewu bendi rajyaya' with so many irrigation and reservoir/tank projects, Illeyapperuma said.

The Rs. 76,316 Mn Iran-funded Uma Oya project to be completed in 2016 is a milestone in the history of irrigation projects in the region which will contribute to increased food productivity while markedly improving the socio-economic condition of the people, he said. The seven-storyed building for the Badulla Kachcheri recently inaugurated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the three-storeyed building for the Badulla police department and the underground car park at the Senanayake Park are some of the landmark events in Badulla. Much has been done in the field of education in the province, Illeyapperuma said. The new three-storeyed building for the Dharmakeerthi Vidyalaya has been completed at a cost of Rs. 30 Mn.

The Badulla Muslim Ladies' College is one of the ambitions of Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva and that has now been fulfilled, he said. The construction of new buildings for the Viharamahadevi Ladies' College and the Badulla Maha Vidyalaya has been completed while the proposal for a new building to the Visakha Vidyalaya has been approved. The super market complex building and the two-storeyed bus terminal building in Badulla have been completed. The sports complex with two auditoriums has almost been completed. The sports complex has a swimming pool, football ground, athletic grounds and other facilities.

Four large bridges under the infrastructure development program are to be constructed in the Badulla district. The estimated cost of the bridge on the Deyyannawila River is Rs. 530 Mn while the estimated cost of the Ambewela Bridge is Rs. 420 Mn, The foundation stones for the two bridges have been laid and the work has already started.

The bridge at Viharagoda near the railway station is estimated to cost Rs. 200 Mn and the work will start next month. The work on the Hangwella bridge will also start next month and the project is estimated to cost Rs. 800 Mn, according to Illeyapperuma. The Andeniya wire-bridge constructed at a cost of Rs. 800 Mn has already been opened to the public.

Over 35,000 tons of garbage lying for 40 long years without being cleared in the city has been evacuated and moved to remote location near Sarnia Estate in Kandegedera and buried.

The 4 acre area where it remained dumped at Malwatte is now being cleared for developing as a entertainment park. The prison in the town has been shifted to another location out of the town and a proposed auditorium will come up in that place. The rest house has been taken over and a super market complex will come up in that place, Illeyapperuma said.

According to the media unit of the Uva Governor Nanda Mathew's office, the revenue index of the district that remained at 870 in the year 2009 rose to 2001 in the year 2012 thanks to the many national level and provincial level development programs launched in the province. In 2010, the 'Deyata Kirula' program was held in Buttala.

All ailing government enterprises in the province were given the incentives and invigoration to become profit-making enterprises. In the sphere of education an amount of Rs. 2.5 Billion has been invested by the government and the standard of education has very much improved. The student-teacher ratio that remained at 17:01 is now 14:01.

To address the teacher shortage problem, 2951 new teacher appointments were given. Under the former Chief Minister's 'Sipsara Udanaya' program, special workshops and classes were held for the backward and underprivileged children sitting for the Grade 05 scholarship, GCE (OL) and GCE (AL) examinations. As a result, the achievement of the students of the province improved much as against the previous years and also in comparison to the other provinces.

In the year 2010, Rs. 650 Mn was allocated for renovation of tanks and improvements to irrigation projects which had benefited 19,864 families. Rs. 40 Mn was allocated for providing safe drinking water to the people of Kataragama and Sella Kataragama areas. Under the program about 8500 families are getting safe drinking water. The ailing Uva province printing press was rehabilitated and today it is a profit-making enterprise.

Under the contribution of the provincial administration, road development achieved a marked improvement. About 1297 projects at an expenditure of Rs. 1014.19 Mn were implemented.

Four mega cooperative cities and 64 mini cooperative cities were established in the province. Electricity supply in respect of the local population has been increased to almost 90 percent from the previous 40 percent. Human resources and physical recourse in the health sector have been increased under the 'Mahinda Chintana' concept. Malnutrition that remained at 40 percent has now come down to 20 percent. The number of agricultural consultants that remained at 88 was increased to 128 . Programs have been implemented to start 1000 new dairy farming projects in an effort to increase milk productivity, according to the Governor's Media Unit.

According to the Planning Director of the Badulla secretariat, the total amount allocated for different development programs for the district as on 24.07.2014 is 2323.20 Mn, covering the 16 Divisional secretary areas.

The program-wise break-up is Rs. 596 Mn for the 'one program for one village, Rs. 244 Mn for the Gama Neguma Special Program, Rs.180 Mn for the Divi Neguma program, Rs. 824 Mn for the provincial 'Pura Neguma' program, Rs. 140.2 Mn for the minor irrigation, paddy fields and harvesting program, Rs. 54 Mn for rural schools improvements and sanitary welfare program, Rs. 70 Mn for the forest conservation program, Rs. 40 Mn for the budget allocation programs and Rs. 175 Mn for the decentralised budget allocations of parliaments program.

The amount spent on to 24.07.2014 under the rural roads and bridges development program is Rs. 129 Mn, according to the Planing Director of the Badulla secretariat.