Five years of development - Kegalle District:

From backwoods to economic forefront

by Jaliya WIJEYEKOON

Minister Siyambalapitiya along with his colleague Minister Bandula Gunewardene opening a Co-op City outlet at Warakapola.

Minister Athauda Seneviratne along with United Arab Emirates officials launching the Emirates Village Housing Project at Ethnawala, Warakapola.

Minister Seneviratne on the Warawala bridge with Minister Ekanayake after the ceremonial opening.

Minister Siyambalapitiya inspecting the work at Galigamuwa FTZ.

Kegalle district which is bordered by Kandy, Ratnapura, Colombo and Gampaha districts was supposed to be one of the less developed districts in the island in comparison to other districts until the advent of the UPFA Government in 2004.

The district of Kegalle covers a land area of 1693 square kilometres and has a population of 807,425 according to the sensus and statistics of 2008. It consists of electorates such as Kegalle, Rambukkana, Mawanella, Aranayaka, Dedigama, Galigamuwa, Ruwanwella, Yatiyantota and Deraniyagala. At present this district is represented by two Cabinet Ministers, Athauda Seneviratne and Ranjith Siyambalapitiya and two non Cabinet Minister H.R. Mithrapala and Mano Wijeratne who crossed over to the Government from UNP. The Kegalle district though not on par with other districts in respect of development process, had produced a Prime Minister and Senior Ministers from all parties such as Dr. N.M. Perera, P.B.G. Kulagalla, Dharmasiri Senanayake, P.C. Imbulana Rukman Senanayake to name a few. UPFA Government of President Rajapaksa has appointed two Cabinet Ministers and two non Cabinet Ministers to look after the affairs of the district. It is encouraging to see that the district has achieved an unprecedented growth in all spheres during the last five years.

Seneviratne who has represented the district for a very long time speaking to Sunday Observer started that he was very happy at present as he has been able to provide a great service to the people of the district during the last five years as a senior Minister in the government. He explained briefly the development activities carried out by his ministry including some of the major infrastructure development projects. Most of the roads were in a deplorable condition in the past and sufficient funds were allocated and the road network renovated for safer vehicle movements.

Electricity was not available to a large segment of people living in very remote areas of the district such as in Aranayake, Deraniyagala Dedigama and Galigamuwa electorates and in consultation with the area representatives electricity was supplied to light up the lives of the downtrodden people in these areas.

Another area on which the Minister has focused his attention was to improve healthcare facilities. One of the major projects that had been completed is the renovation and refurbishment of Karawanella hospital which caters to thousands of people in the district. Also new medical equipment had been supplied and laboratory and other facilities, required for intensive care unit of the hospital had been provided.

The Minister also stated that a large amount of funds has been allocated to improve education and sports activities in the district by setting up new school buildings, play grounds. He also supplied sports gear to a large number of schools and local sports clubs. Warakapola sports grounds was one of the main projects now in progress.

In addition to the infrastructure development activities the Minister has taken various measures to develop living standards of the people by providing a large number of jobs to the needy and encouraged SME holders through numerous new programs. Bank loan facilities have been arranged through consultation with the relevant authorities.

As the Minister of Labour and manpower has negotiated a number of employment contracts with foreign authorities and a large number of youths from Kegalle district have obtained employment in Middle Eastern Countries in skilled and unskilled categories. He has provided a large number of lucrative employment opportunities in South Korea for the youths in Kegalle district and all over the country.

Another major project that the Minister has negotiated is the Ethnawala Warakapola Housing project of over 100 units which has been handed over to the homeless people in the district. It cost 100 million rupees a generous donation by the United Arab Emirates. The name of the Housing complex is Emirates Village.

Minister Authada Seneviratne has done a yeoman service to the Buddhist temples scattered in the district and one of the prime projects undertaken is providing a protective gate to the Wattarama Raja Maha Vihara costing Rs. 40 million rupees.

The Minister further stated that he never took into consideration the political affiliations of his constituents in granting employment or meting out justice and providing any kind of facility to any area in the district.

State Revenue Minister and Deputy Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya a rising politician and a relentless worker for the public good speaking to Sunday Observer said the development activities carried out under his Ministry during the last five years helped to uplift the living standards of the people. He said he was happy that he could fulfil some of the promises he made during the last general election. He elaborated on some of his main development projects such as the Dehiowita Market complex, estimated at 1000 million rupees. Dehiowita is a central township which connects Deraniyagala, Ruwanwella, Yatiyantota, Kegalle and other towns in the Kegalle district. It was a crying need of the people. Around 20,000 are moving daily through this central point to different destinations in the district for their day-to-day affairs.

Minister Seneviratne is inspecting the work in progress at Warakapola Pradeshiya Sabha Sports grounds.

The Sports complex at Ruwanwella and the National school sports ground at Rajasinghe Vidyalaya at Ruwanwella are two other major projects launched by the Minister spending over Rs. 40 million and 20 million respectively.

The Kitulgala - Parawalatenna bridge which is nearing completion is another major development project launched by Minister Siyambalapitiya at a cost of 110 million rupees. Another milestone was the Yatiyantota - Habbellawaka bridge being constructed at a sum of Rs. 140 million. With the construction of bridges in the Kegalle district the living standards and social commitments of the people in remote areas will largely improve, the Minister noted.

The Minister has also taken steps to set-up a FTZ in Galigamuwa electorate with an initial investment of Rs. 800 million which will eventually generate 5000 employment opportunities for the youth of the district.

He has also taken steps to further improve the Kegalle General Hospital by providing a new ICU building and an operating theatre at a cost of Rs. 1340 million.

It was found that only 55% of the Kegalle district population enjoyed electricity till the end of 2004. However, with the advent of the UPFA Government 80% of the population became beneficiaries of rural electrification programmes by end 2009. More funds would be invested in electricity supply projects in future, the Minister reiterated.

Minister Siyambalapitiya further stated that the government has provided employment to about 48,000 graduates during the last five years.

Around 1500 graduates were recruited from Kegalle district alone for various types of white collar jobs without considering their political affiliations.

The Minister has lots of plans and programs to develop the Kegalle district to be on par with other developed districts in the country. I am optimistic that I would be able to carry out my programmes during the next term of office the Minister stated.

Non cabinet Minister H. R. Mithrapala who holds the portfolio of consumer affairs is another senior politician in the Kegalle district and presently functions as the chief organizer of Deraniyagala electorate. After assuming office as the Minister of Consumer Affairs in 2004 Minister Mithrapala has launched a number of innovative schemes to ameliorate the living standards of the ordinary people of the country.

The introduction of Lak Sathosa outlets and Mini-Coop cities are two of the main projects initiated by them to ease the cost of living of the poor people of the district.

The cooperatives which were running at a loss were properly monitored and financial assistance was provided. Some of their loans were written off and put the management back on proper track to serve the peasants and farmers and the labour community in the area. Coop cities and Lak Sathosa were encouraged to compete with the private sector establishments to provide a better service with affordable prices on essential consumer items.

Taxes on consumer items were exempted in order to supply goods at reasonable prices. Certain malpractices that had been rampant in co-ops were done away with and precautionary measures were taken to avoid repetition in future.

Investigation and flying squad teams were set up recruiting graduates to monitor the smooth performance of the activities.

A large number of graduates was recruited as weights and measures officers who function under the GA and they are empowered to examine weighing machines and scales in all state and private sector establishments.

The biggest development project undertaken by the Ministry is to widen and develop the Dehiowita - Deraniyagala Highway with two lanes costing a staggering Rs. 120 million, the work of which is now in progress. It will be completed before July 2010.

Minister Mithripala has taken steps to improve public transport facilities in the area by enhancing the fleet of buses of the Deraniyagala CTB depot.

A large number of employment opportunities have been found for the needy and the eligible youth in the district, irrespective of their political affiliations.