With Govt's far-reaching development program:

Mannar bounces back with 'Rice Bowl'

By P. Krishnaswamy

The Mannar district which abounds in agriculture and fish resources has bounced back to its popularity as the 'Rice Bowl' of Sri Lanka, having got the best paddy and fish harvests in the last two years, the Government Agent for the district, Sarath Ravindra told the Sunday Observer. A majority of the population of the district were displaced and virtually every family suffered loss of life and property in the terrorism-ravaged district but life has returned to normalcy with people having returned to their traditional professions, mainly agriculture and fishing, he said. Economic indicators and crop yield potentials in the district are positive and encouraging, he said.

Agricultural and fisheries sectors

The Government's far-reaching development programs under the “Mahinda Chintana', including the 'Uthuru Vasanthaya' and 'Gama Neguma' , have mainly focussed on promoting the agricultural and fisheries sectors with many programs already under implementation and many more in the pipeline, the GA said.

Other similar projects are for housing, educational development, improvement of roads, provision of infrastructure, water supply and sanitation, improvement of minor irrigation facilities and rehabilitation of small tanks. A total of Rs. 269.10 Mn was allocated for these projects in the year 2010, he said. In the same year Rs. 401.22 Mn was spent for providing electricity to the local population and Rs. 710 Mn was spent for the rehabilitation of the Giant Tank, Akkathimurippu tank and the Viyadikulam tank. 40 four-wheel tractors, 62 two-wheel tractors, 509 water pumps and 317 sprayers were distributed among the agricultural families in that year. 5,158 cattle were rounded up and handed over to the owners in that year.

161 dairy cows , 63 stud bulls and 53,730 backyard poultry were issued among the local families. Rs. 141 Mn was spent for the improvement of the Puliyadirakkam-Madhu Road, the GA said.

Elaborating on the projects in the pipeline and the amounts allocated for the various projects last year, the GA provided the following details :

The projects in the pipeline are the construction of the District Secretariat and Divisional Secretariats (stage II), establishment of salterns at Erukkalampiddy and Manthai West, establishment of a garment factory in Mannar, re-activating the fish canning factory in Pesalai, establishment of rice mills, establishment of export villages and a windmill and dairy farm in Manthai West. A technical college and teachers' training college , construction of a super market in Mannar town , commencement of railway services from Madawachchi to Talaimannar and a ferry service between Talaimannar – Rameswaram are some of the other projects in the pipeline.

Re-activation of Murunkan Seed Farm & Seeds Certification Unit, renovation of paddy stores, re-activation of the Vellankulam Farm , establishment of a Fisheries Faculty, fishing harbours and anchorage facilities, construction of more breakwater bunds ( to protect from sea erosion) and renovation of the ice factory in Pesalai are among other development plans for the future.

Malwathu Oya reservoir

The construction of the Malwathu Oya reservoir at a cost of Rs. 10,000 Mn, the construction of the Kal Aru reservoir at Rs. 3,000 Mn, the diversion of the Paranki Aru at a cost of Rs. 100 Mn and improvements of field canals, road and drainage networks in paddy fields at a cost of Rs. 1,000 Mn are also among future development plans for the district.

Last year the Ministry of Economic Development allocated Rs. 509.46 Mn under the World Bank program for the construction of 1602 housing units. The construction has been completed. The National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) disbursed Rs. 29.04 Mn to resettled families under long-term loan scheme for them to construct their houses.

Mine-clearance has been completed in the resettlement areas of the DS Divisions of Mannar Town, Nanaddan, Musali, Manthai West and Madhu while 10 to 30 percent mine-clearance is yet to be completed in the livelihood areas. 24,317 families have been resettled with a large majority of them already been paid the initial resettlement assistance of Rs. 25,000/=. Household requirements, including utensils, have been distributed to the families. Agricultural machinery have been issued to 692 families while 21,263 more families are to be issued with them soon.

Last year under the Consolidated District Annual Implementation Program (CDAIP) , the Ministry of Economic Development, together with the Ministry of Resettlement, allocated Rs. 2,488.78 Mn for implementation of programs under the Emergency Northern Recovery Project (ENReP), the Reawakening Program (RAP) and other such programs. Further amounts of Rs. 4,154.07 Mn and Rs. 3,871.21 Mn under the CDAIP for postal services improvement and for social services, which include Probation and Childcare and Disaster Management, were allocated.

The Ministry of Economic Development allocated Rs. 387 Mn for improvement of minor irrigation, water and sanitation, community road development and educational facilities.

A further Rs. 132.10 Mn was allocated by the Ministry for North/East Services Improvement Project. The Road Development Department allocated Rs. 392.56 Mn for road network development and Rs. 350 Mn of the amount is from the Asian Development Bank. The Ministry of Highways also allocated Rs. 65.3 Mn for the same purpose.

Finance

The Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Management allocated Rs. 100 Mn for repairing of the main canal and the suspension bridge at the Adaikalamoddai tank. The same Ministry allocated Rs. 75 Mn for the construction of the Thandikulam Tank's feeder sluice.

The Ministry of Agriculture allocated Rs. 6.22 Mn for agricultural development. The Ministry of Livestock Development allocated Rs. 15.89 Mn through the Department of Livestock Development for developing animal husbandry. The Department of Local Government allocated Rs. 197 Mn for the Mannar UC and Pradeshiya Sabha. The Ministry of Resettlement allocated Rs. 742.97 Mn for the implementation of 131 development-oriented projects under the 'Vadakkin Vasantham' and 'Gama Neguma' programs and 81 of them have been completed. The Department of Fisheries allocated Rs. 45.34 Mn, the Department of Cooperatives allocated Rs. 21.1 Mn and the Department of Posts allocated Rs. 10.17 Mn for improvements to their respective sectors.

The Department of Social Services allocated Rs. 4.90 Mn for the renovation of the Mannar District Secretariat and the MNREP/JICA allocated Rs. 294.70 Mn for rural small scale enterprises development. The Ministry of Economic Development allocated another Rs. 21.87 Mn under the 'Vadakkin Vasantham' program and the Disaster Management Unit allocated Rs. 45.48 Mn for its respective sector. These are some of the allocations for major development projects while more amounts were allocated, mainly by the Ministry of Economic Development, for other projects.