National Plan of Action for plantation community revived

by P. Krishnaswamy

The Government is to relaunch the 10 year National Plan of Action (NPA) for the plantation community that was abandoned by the previous regime.

The NPA will be officially revealed on April 30 at the Taj Samudra Hotel, by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.Secretary to the Estate Infrastructure Development Ministry V.Sivagnanasothy told the Sunday Observer that the areas for prioritization, including the major projects to be launched, will be discussed and identified at a technical session,after the launch.

The discussions will also be centered on what major roles the donors could play in the projects and how they can get themselves involved in the multi-billion dollar project, Sivagnanasothy said.

The NPA would be a collective effort of a large number of local and international stakeholders who are committed to the well being of Sri Lanka in general and the plantation community in particular. The overall goal is to contribute to poverty reduction and socioeconomic development of the plantation community as a priority for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), Sivagnanasothy said.

Major focus will be on strengthening the conducive environment for the political, social and economic rights of the plantation community to ensure them being mainstreamed into the development process, accelerating human resource development through improved access to quality education, access to improved health services, meeting the housing and infrastructure needs of the community with special focus on roads, electricity, communications, water supply and sanitation; promoting community and alternative livelihood development, empowerment of the youth and the women; reducing infant mortality rate; addressing and preventing killer diseases and providing an input into the formulation of the long term development framework for the countryas a whole, he said.