Major projects in Kilinochchi district

Farmers ready for Yala season:

By P. Krishnaswamy

Several major development projects were started in the Kilinochchi district under the 'Vadakkin Vasantham' (Northern Spring) program of President Mahinda Rajapaksa after the elimination of terrorism in May 2009 and virtually all villages and towns where people have resettled are now bustling with life and activity after a span of nearly three decades, Government Agent (GA) Rubawathie Ketheeswaran told the Sunday Observer.

These include projects for infrastructure development, agricultural and fisheries development, housing, livelihood promotion and educational facilities, she said.

Allocation

The fund allocation for these ongoing projects for the year 2011 was Rs.38,683.09 million. 1,682 power lines were installed for domestic needs, 22 lines for places of religious worship, 752 as general lines and two as 3-phase lines for industries, she said.

Under the development of the road network program, construction of the Paranthan-Pooneryn highway has been completed, work on the Kandy-Jaffna A 9 highway is in progress, construction of the A 32 Navarkuly-Kerathivu road has begun and most of the internal roads in villages have either been newly constructed or renovated, she said.

The construction of the bridge to link Sangupiddy and Kerativu is a boon to the local residents who are engaged in agriculture.

It has facilitated them to market their agricultural produce to the South and other Northern areas. Previously the people used the hazardous ferry service across the lagoon and this service too was not functional for some years, the GA said.

The Paranthan, Karachchi and Mullaitivu carpet roads are under construction and many of the rural roads are concrete roads, she said.

Paddy cultivation undertaken in 58,000 acres in the last Maha season has been very successful, unlike in 2010 when floods and diseases caused extensive damage to the crops. The Kalmadu Tank that was breached by the LTTE has now been fully renovated providing irrigation facilities to the farmers. Renovation of the Akkarayankulam tank and the Kalyanai Nagappaduwankulam tanks under the economic development program of the Government is in progress. Most of the farmers have been able to sell their paddy to either the Paddy Marketing Board or their cooperative societies at reasonable prices.

The farmers have now started paddy cultivation for the Yala season.

With irrigation facilities available from many tanks good harvests are anticipated. Cultivation of other highland crops like banana, onions, grains, black gram, green peas, cowpea and green gram has also been successful, the GA said.

A project to strengthen the tank bunds of the Iranamadu tank has been started. Under a projected water supply plan to Jaffna from this tank, families living in Pooneryn and Palai in the Kilinochchi district will be benefited, the GA said. There are avenues for the development of tourism too under the Iranamadu Water Supply program.

The season for fishing wild sea prawns and harvests in prawn culture projects in Kallaru and certain areas of Pooneryn has started, she said.

Garment

The initial work on the two garment factories in Ariviyal Nagar has been started after allotment of land and ground-breaking ceremonies. 35 girls have already been provided employment during the building construction process, 100 more girls are to be absorbed into jobs next month for starting sample production and altogether 1000 girls are expected to get jobs when the project is completes , the GA said.

A Sri Lanka-German Technical College is to come up in Kilinochchi in collaboration with the National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority (NAITA) and youths are to be provided industrial and technical training in various trades for skills development so that they can either find suitable jobs or engage themselves in self-employment ventures.

Schools have either been renovated or reconstructed and school attendance and standard of education has considerably improved, she said. She also pointed out that there is a shortage of teachers for Maths, Science and English.

Networks

A remote village, Shantrhapuram, which she visited last Friday was bustling with life, people beamings, houses provided electricity, internal road networks constructed and transport services operating. About one thousand families are inhabiting the village now.

In 2009 this village posed an eyesore with people having fled their homes, everything deserted and jungle scrubs invading everywhere, the GA said.

Until now 38,000 families comprising 120,000 persons have been resettled in the district while demining operations are continuing in some areas of Patchchilaipalli, Karachchi and Kandawalai where more families will be resettled after the completion of the demining operations, she said.