President Ranil Wickremesinghe highlighted the present as an opportune moment for investing in Sri Lanka’s renewable energy sector, expressing confidence in its potential to yield substantial benefits for both stakeholders and consumers in the coming decades

Senior journalist Sudewa Hettiarachchi has been appointed as the Director-General of the President’s Media Division.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa inspected the progress of the Kalutara North Calido beach Development Project, today (08).

After attending a ceremony held in Kalutara President Rajapaksa visited the beach.

The 2017 floods caused erosion of sand bars close to the estuary. This has resulted in the erosion of a vast area of beach in Kalutara North due to encroaching waves. As a remedy, coastal conservation was begun dredging sand from deep sea. The project is in three stages. Under the first phase of the project, 2 km long and 25 m wide an artificial beach will be constructed. Three hundred thousand cubic meters of sand will be used for the filling process.

The 500 meter section has already been completed. ‘The first phase is expected to be completed within two weeks’, Chief Engineer of Coastal Development, Mr. Sujeewa Ranawaka told the President.

The 1 Km stretch Angulana beach under the second phase and 500m Mount Lavinia beach under the third phase will be developed.  Mr. Ranawaka said that all three phases of the project could be completed by April 20.

While moving towards Kalutara the President’s attention was drawn to the daily city cleaning process around Moratuwa, Panadura.

The President immediately informed the representatives of the local government bodies and the police officials about the unsatisfactory cleaning process around these cities.

President Rajapaksa instructed the officials to carry out an immediate investigation into the failure to keep proper daily cleaning services and to clean up the city as soon as possible. He also stressed that this process should continue.

Permanent solution to wild elephant problem…

Commence all stalled development work in schools island-wide immediately….

• Vedikachchiya villagers to get new houses
• Fence to be erected to prevent damages caused by deer to crops
• Water to cultivate both Seasons
• Vocational training opportunities in the district to be expanded

–      President decided at “Discussion with the Village” programme

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said permission will be granted to farmers to engage in their traditional cultivation activities continuously without any disruption until related issues are resolved.

President arrived at this decision focusing on  issues fervently raised by the farmers who attended the 6^th in the series of programme “Discussion with the Village”.

Officials of Wildlife, Forest Conservation, Environment, Police and other institutions were instructed by the President not to disturb with traditional cultivation activities. However, President emphasized that no one is allowed to clear forests newly for cultivational purposes.

Polonnaruwa is one of the districts severely affected by the threat posed by wild elephants. President instructed relevant parties to understand correctly the problem faced by the people for a long time and to commence construction of both trenches and electric fences as a permanent solution.

People gathered highlighted the disruption caused to the education of students due to the development work being stalled in many schools in the district. Paying attention to the matter, President Rajapaksa directed authorities to expedite the completion of all development work at schools in the island.

These decisions were taken by the President at the “Discussion with the Village” programme held in Wedikachchiya village in Medirigiriya in the Polonnaruwa district yesterday (16). This marks the 6^th of the series of programme attended by the President.

The programme commenced on September 25^th, 2020 from Badulla district. Five programmes have so far been organized covering Matale, Ratnapura, Anuradhapura and Ampara districts.

Meeting the people in remote areas outside the city who had not been given due hearing for a long time, President drew attention of the officials to inquire into the difficulties faced by the villagers and find solutions rapidly.  Problems that can be solved on the spot are instantly addressed. The rest which take time to deal with are noted down to find solutions later.

Vedikachchiya village in Medirigiriya Divisional Secretariat located around 45 km away from Polonnaruwa city belongs to Zone “D” of the Mahaweli Development project. Consisting villages of Samagipura, Darshanapura, Dahamwewa and Peramaduwa, the area covers around 79 square kilometers. The population in the village is 2561 people belonging to  723 families. Agriculture and self-employment are the sources of main livelihood of the people in Wedikachchiya and surrounding villages. One of the major problems faced by the villagers is that paddy cultivation has to be restricted only to the Maha Season due to shortage of water. This situation forces them to leave the village during the Yala Season seeking employment as hired labourers.

President stated that entirely new houses will be built replacing the existing ones in the Wedikachchiya village which lacks even basic facilities. The political authority and the officials in the district were instructed to take immediate steps to repair the canals and tanks and provide irrigation water as a solution to the long standing cultivation problems of the villagers enabling them to cultivate both the seasons.

People also pointed out the damage caused by deer to crops in Medirigiriya – Watadageya area. As a remedy, it was decided to erect a steel net fence covering habitats of deer. Governor of the North Central Province Maheepala Herath agreed to provide funds for this purpose.

President Rajapaksa emphasized the need to establish vocational training facilities for students who sit GCE (A/L) examination. The State Minister in charge of the subject would be made aware of this requirement and vocational training opportunities would be created, President said.

Attention of the President was particularly paid to the drinking water shortage in the area. President advised to complete the project to meet the demand for water of ten thousand families by constructing a water purification plant connecting Kaudulla Wewa and laying pipe lines before the end of 2021.

President instructed the officials of the Ministry of Power to provide “Solar Power Systems” free of charge to schools and low income families who are unable to pay their electricity bills.

Instructions were issued to fulfill existing un-met requirements in hospitals and schools in the area and expedite the development of number of main and byroads.

In parallel to “Discussion with the Village ” programme President participated in the opening of Mahaweli Primary School in Bisopura, Medirigiriya. President Rajapaksa invited former President Maithreepala Sirisena, who spearheaded the construction of the school to open it.

President handed over 02 computers donated by Sri Lanka Mobitel and a television set donated by Dialog to the Principal of the school.

Former President Maithreepala Sirisena, State Ministers Roshan Ranasinghe, Siripala Gamlath, Member of Parliament Amarakeerthi Athukorala, Governor of the North Central Province Maheepala Herath, Principal Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga, political representatives of the area, Ministry Secretaries, heads of Government entities were among the gathering attended the “Discussion with the Village” programme.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa advised to expedite the surveying of the land units during a discussion at the Presidential Secretariat, today (10).

President Rajapaksa stated that the government has identified a total of 14mn land units and during the last 20 years 10% of it has been surveyed. President added that he would facilitate the process and instructed the remaining 90% of the land units to be surveyed immediately.

President further instructed the officials to provide Title Certificates following appropriate survey process.

Issues relating to Joint, Disputed and boundary less lands will be cleared in this process. President advised the officials to use modern surveying equipment and drones to facilitate and expedite the process.

During the discussion, recruitment of the graduates to address the lack of personnel for Survey Department was considered.

In addition, president Rajapaksa highlighted the requirement of a database with all the completed surveys which could be accessible for any individual.

Secretary to the President, Dr P. B. Jayasundara, Secretary to the Ministry of Land Reforms A. K. Ranawaka, Survery General P.J. Dhampegama were present for the discussion.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa directed relevant authorities to rehabilitate 5,000 tanks scattered across the island following a mechanism combining ancient technology and modern scientific methods. In parallel to this initiative the “National Food Production Contribution Programme” covering 120,000 abandoned paddy lands will also be launched.

Tanks will be rehabilitated under “Wari Saubhagya” programme. The assistance of Civil Defence Force will be secured to expedite the project.

The proposed programme was reviewed in length during the meeting to discuss future activities of the State Ministry of Development of Rural Paddy Fields and Associated Tanks, Reservoirs and Irrigation held at the Presidential Secretariat today (9).

“A project to rehabilitate tanks was carried out earlier too. It came under to strong criticism by the experts as well as the public. This is due to the fact that despite dredging of tanks, ancient techniques and scientific methods of water retention were not used. Such shortcoming should be avoided and rehabilitation should proceed in a manner specific to each area and tank under a common criterion”, President said.

The capacity of tanks has been reduced due to their silting. There is large number of tanks with breached banks. The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival Basil Rajapaksa pointed out the necessity of rehabilitating such tanks targeting Maha season.

President Rajapaksa highlighted the possibility of using tank water not only for paddy cultivation but also to meet the needs for drinking water and other irrigation requirements.

The Departments of Land Use and Agriculture have jointly conducted a survey on the pattern of agricultural land use depending on the irrigation system. Based on its findings, plans afoot to cultivate 17 identified crops in the intermediate and inter seasons supported by satisfactory water management system.

Rehabilitation of tanks should be carried out while preserving their related industries.it is imperative that the project should be implemented in conjunction with affiliated organizations and Farmers’ Societies. President Rajapaksa instructed to renovate the irrigation system including canals and dams in parallel with the project to rehabilitate tanks.

During the meeting attention was focused on the requirement of expediting “Uthuru Meda Maha Ela” and “Wyamba Ela” projects planned with the objective to supply irrigation and drinking water. Under this programme 80,000 hectares fed by 1500 tanks in North Central and North Western Provinces will be cultivated.

The necessity to include the irrigation systems of the island and all the forest reservoirs neighboring rivers in a gazette notification was among the topics discussed at the meeting.

President Rajapaksa also instructed the officials to rapidly renovate 500 small tanks located within reserves for the benefit of wild animals. A one year programme will be implemented to achieve this objective jointly by the Irrigation Department, Wild Life and Forest Conservation Department.

During this meeting special attention was drawn to the need of promptly filling the vacancies that exist in certain cadres such as Engineer and Technical Officer in the field of irrigation for a long period of time.

The progress of the ‘ Taruna Govi Saubhagya, Kabanika Govipala’ programme initiated with the aim of directing young entrepreneurs to use organic fertilizers for agricultural activities, was reviewed at this meeting. The project has been designed covering 5,000 acres from the Maduru Oya right bank. It was agreed to provide all the necessary infrastructure facilities for the project.

Minister Chamal Rajapaksa, State Minister Anuradha Jayaratne, Head of the Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival Basil Rajapaksa, Secretary to the President, P.B. Jayasundera, officials of the Cabinet and State Ministries and line institutes and representatives of the Farmers’ Associations were present at the discussion.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa emphasized that the tea industry which has suffered a severe setback should be revived based on a holistic approach.

Experts in the field pointed out that long, medium and short –term plans should be implemented after scrutinizing loss making estates in order to increase tea exportation and its revenue. President said the the objective should be to reclaim the status enjoyed by Ceylon Tea in the global market in the past while identifying the factors contributed to the downfall of the industry.

President made these remarks during a meeting to discuss future activities of the State Ministry of Company Establishment Reforms, Tea Estate Crops, Tea Factory Modernization and Tea Export Diversification held at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday (7).

10 out of the 20 major plantation companies are inoperative. It was revealed that the production capacity of plantation companies has been declining rapidly in an environment where the small tea estates achieve higher production. The President instructed the officials to identify causes for losses and inactivity of these companies within a short period of time and to provide permanent solutions for these issues. It was decided to hand over loss-making plantations companies to the tea smallholders as a pilot project.

‘Losses at plantation companies should be thoroughly investigated in a context of where the infrastructure facilities including roads, hospitals, schools and sanitation have been provided by the government’, said the Head of the  Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival, Basil Rajapaksa. During this meeting the need to rehabilitate tea estates and regularize cultivation to produce higher yields was discussed detail.

Mr. Basil Rajapaksa pointed out the need to provide reliefs to tea growers to engage in self-employment or other livelihoods until the tea plants reach the yielding stage.

Experts believe that the setback in the tea industry is caused due to ignorance of the findings made by researches in the field. They highlighted the requirement of prioritizing research developments and pursuing new markets for the product. Attention was also paid to the possibility of expanding the Bio tea industry and securing a better profit from its high demand in the world market. President Rajapaksa emphasized the importance of strengthening the plantation management and supervision.

Representatives from the small tea estate sector commended the President for his wise decisions taken during the curfew period under COVID 19 pandemic which protected nearly 421,000 small tea estate owners across the country.

Minister Ramesh Pathirana, State Minister Kanaka Herath, Head of the Presidential Task Force for Economic Revival, Basil Rajapaksa, Secretary to the President, P.B. Jayasundera, Secretaries of the Cabinets and State Ministries, Officials of the Line institutes, representatives from the tea estate owners and planters were present at the discussion.