Development, a decisive factor in CPC election

By Ranil Wijayapala

The Central Province which is the centre of attraction of Sri Lanka in terms of religious, historical, cultural and natural beauty is now hotting up with the election campaign. The cool, soothing climate that prevails in the region is hotting up, may be due to the effect of the election campaign or else due to a change of weather pattern, but only the people there can feel the difference not the visitors to the province.

Land has been cultivated and farmers have obtained better yields

Infra structure faciluities have improved by leaps and bounds thus boosting the economy

More land has been cultivated with onion seed

The province, which underwent tremendous development drive during the past few years as it joined hands with the national task of making Sri Lanka the 'Wonder of Asia' by making maximum contribution, is now ready for stocktaking from the people as to whether the Government along with the Central Provincial Council could make a positive impact on the province through its development drive.

As a centre for tourism, a cultural hotspot and a geographical wonder, the Central Province has made an all out effort to benefit the people in the province while making a valuable contribution to the national economy in the past few years.

Therefore, the rays of development have reached the areas considered the remotest parts of the province as well as in the country due to the geographical location in terms of basic infrastructure and from the aspects of a major development drive.

There is no argument that accessibility to the province, which was considered an arduous trek in the past, has vastly improved with the development of the road network to reach the province whether it is Kandy, Nuwara Eliya or Matale,while exposing many untapped resources in the province for the betterment of the people as well as for the country. There is no no need to mention the impact on the province with the improvement of the 18 bend Kandy- Mahiyanagana road.

The Central Provincial Council has been able to carpet 715 kilometres of road within the province out of the 2,224 kilo meters road network which comes under it. It includes 462 kilometres of road in the Kandy district, 176 kilo metres in the Matale district and 77 kilometres in the Nuwara Eliya district. Apart from this, the rural road network of the province has been developed enabling the people to reach main towns easily compared to the tiring journey they were used to earlier. It is no exaggeration if we say that it is an extremely difficult task to find a road that has not been improved.

As a province being constantly subject to disaster under bad weather conditions, the provincial council has developed 58 kilometres of road which was damaged during disasters into carpeted roads. More and more road development and road widening projects including the widening of thew A-9 road that goes through the Matale town is now taking place to improve accessibility.

According to former Chief Minister, Sarath Ekanayake, during their tenure they initiated a program to develop at least 100 kilometres of main roads per year to elevate the road network in the province.

"We are ready to continue that process in the future too as improvement of the road network has been given priority by the Provincial Council", Sarath Ekanayake said.

As a province which attracts thousands of tourists having places of religious, historical and cultural value as well as environmental value, the Province is ready to join hands with the ambitious program initiated by the central government to attract more tourists to the country.

Institutions under the Provincial Council are making efforts to increase efficiency of the hospitality industry. Even multipurpose cooperative societies have ventured into projects in the hospitality industry by starting tourist hotels to attract more tourists to places like Horton Plains and World End while other institutions were opening rest houses in places such as Katukithula on the Nuwara Eliya road while launching many programs like the Esala Mela festival and Kandyan Night Market to entertain tourists.

Buildings coming up along the main roads and in areas where people can enjoy the natural beauty, bears testimony that the province is adjusting to welcome the influx of tourists into the province.

Along with this, the Provincial Council has also made tireless efforts to improve the standard of education in the province by having innovative methods to attract children towards higher education. The Provincial Council has launched targeted programs to improve the education system in the province by reaching education zones such as Vilgamuwa in the Matale district which has recorded the lowest progress in the education sector.

The Central Provincial Council has also effectively contributed towards the improvement of education facilities in the estate sector, which was an obstacle for achieving overall progress in the education indicators through programs like the Nenoda School Development project to eradicate the gap between the education levels of the estate sector and the other schools.

According to former Chief Minister, Sarath Ekanayake, the province has already achieved the national goal set to be achieved by 2015 in the education sector. The Province already has one computer for every 65 students as of now, while the central government is struggling to reach the target of having one computer for at least 75 students by 2015.

As an agriculture- based province which contributes almost the entire vegetable requirement of the country it has also achieved many heights in agriculture by improving the quality and also fulfilling he basic requirement for the agriculture industry.

agricultural technology has undergone tremendous change within the province while increasing seed requirement of farmers. The province has increased the production of seed potatoes from 153 metric tonnes in 2008 to 36,000 metric tonnes of seed potato production in 2012. The province which produced only 3000 Kilograms of big onion seeds in 2008, is now producing 20,000 kilograms of big onion seed within the province to be supplied to farmers. When the Provincial Council is making every effort for the Province to be the best among all provinces, the Central Government is also supporting it by giving more infrastructure facilities to improve accessibility to the province and also to improve other sectors.

The construction of the North - East Expressway or the Colombo - Kandy Expressway which will begin soon will be a boon for the Province as it will improve accessibility to Kandy city within one hour from Colombo city. It is estimated that Rs.160 billion will be invested for the project which is going to be implemented in two stages.

Apart from that Government's plan to construct a branch railway line from Kurunegala to Habarana through Dambulla which is proposed to run across the commercial towns of Dambulla and Sigiriya in the Matale district, will also be a boost for the tourist industry in the Central Province.

The proposed airport in Kundasale will be a major attractin as it would fulfill long felt need.

As development is taking place at a rapid pace, the only worrying factor for UPFA candidates in the province is who will be the Chief Minister of the Provincial Council after September 21.

There is intense debate among the candidates in the three districts on this issue as to whether it should go to Kandy, Matale or Nuwara Eliya. There is a great demand for the post from the Nuwara Eliya district as they have not been given the Chief ministerial post earlier. However, candidates from other districts have not given up their effort to retain the post within the district.

It is the UPFA members in the province who are hotting up the election campaign, as the UNP and Opposition campaigns were not so vigorous. There is little interest from the public for the election campaign, despite efforts by the candidates to get preferential votes in their favour showcasing development in the province while the Opposition is playing a negative side.

Although statistics alone cannot measure development, development that the province has undergone will be a key issue to woo the interest of the people to vote for any political party at the Central Provincial Council election. If development that has taken place in the Province is palpable and if it has made positive impact on their lives then this will be a key factor to decide the vote on the September 21.