As a part of its development partnership with Sri Lanka and in response to requirements projected by the Government of Sri Lanka, the Government of India is undertaking a project to rehabilitate the Atchchuvely Industrial Zone (AIZ) in Jaffna district. An agreement in this connection was entered into by the High Commission of India with its project implementation partner, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) today in the presence of Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development, Douglas Devananda, Minister of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development and Ashok K. Kantha, High Commissioner of India. The Project will be implemented under full grant assistance of the Government of India with an estimated outlay of SLR 192 million (approx. US$ 1.7 million).
Minister Rajapaksa thanked the Government of India for undertaking this project as well as for all the assistance provided for reconstruction and development of Northern Province through various others projects. He added that the AIZ when completed will create employment opportunities for people in Northern Province and encourage investors, both local as well as from the diaspora. High Commissioner Kantha informed the Minister that the project will be completed in a period of 14 months and it will provide a platform for industrial development of the region, for regeneration of livelihoods and for restoration of normalcy in Northern Province.
The objective of the Project is to assist potential investors to commence business ventures by providing for required infrastructure and utilities at the AIZ. The Project will undertake to construct access roads, internal roads, water supply system with treatment plant, power supply, sewerage and waste disposal system, etc., as a part of the requisite infrastructure at the Zone. Approximately, 25 acres of the AIZ will be developed initially. The completion of the Project is expected to provide a boost to economic activities in the Jaffna Peninsula and generate local employment, both direct and indirect, for about 2,000 people. It is also expected to lead to flow of significant investments to increase production capacities in the sectors of textiles, plastic and leather products, food processing, agro-based industries, oil and fibre products, etc., thereby resulting in better utilisation of local resources.
The Project will be implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development of the Government of Sri Lanka. Necessary technical expertise and project management services will be provided by the UNOPS. The Government of Sri Lanka through its agencies is already carrying out preliminary site preparation work at the AIZ.
India has been supporting projects for rehabilitation, resettlement and well-being of displaced persons in the Northern Province in the areas of shelter (through donation of roofing sheets & cement bags and reconstruction & repair of houses under the Indian Housing Project for 50,000 houses), health-care (providing emergency medical relief, organizing artificial limbs refitment camps and equipping hospitals), livelihood generation (provision of fishing equipment, tractors, agricultural equipment and seeds), education (repairs of schools and setting up of vocational training centres) and infrastructure development (restoration of Northern Railway lines, rehabilitation of Palaly Airport and KKS Harbour).