India assists revival of Atchchuvely Industrial Estate in Jaffna

On 24 February, six contract documents were signed between the High Commission of India, Colombo and four contractors on the premises of the Consulate General of India, Jaffna in the presence of the High Commissioner of India, Ashok K. Kantha and the Governor of Northern Province, G. A. Chandrasiri. The Consul General of India in Jaffna V. Mahalingam was also present.

The contract was signed by Suresh Menon, Consul, Consul General of India on behalf of the High Commission of India and the respective contractors. Later in the evening, a ground-breaking ceremony was performed at the Atchchuvely Industrial Estate and the work of construction was formally launched.

Speaking on the occasion, the High Commissioner said livelihood generation is an area of challenge and Jaffna, which used to be the hub of 16 industries ranging from food processing, salt, specialised chemicals etc. employing over 3,000 workers, got completely damaged during the conflict. India’s objective is to help revive such industries and other small-scale industries.

In his remarks, G.A. Chandrasiri, Governor of Northern Province, thanked the Government of India for undertaking this project as well for other assistance provided for the reconstruction and development of Northern Province through various other development projects.

The project to set up the Atchchuvely Industrial Estate in Jaffna, which is expected to be completed by August 2013, would assist potential investors to commence business ventures by providing required infrastructure and utilities at the industrial zone.

It will lead to flow of significant investments to increase production capacities in the sectors of textiles, plastic and leather products, food processing, agro-based industries, oil and fibre products, etc., thereby resulting in better utilisation of local resources. The project is being implemented under full grant assistance of the Government of India amounting to Rs. 200 million.

The project undertakes to construct access roads, internal roads, water supply system with treatment plant, power supply, sewerage and waste disposal system, etc., as part of the requisite infrastructure at the estate.

The project is being implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development of the Government of Sri Lanka. Necessary technical expertise and project management services are being provided by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).

Contract agreements to execute the project were entered into earlier by the High Commission of India, Colombo with M/s Muruges Work and Construction, M/s Euroville Engineers (Pvt.) Ltd., M/s Farzan Building Construction and M/s Building Services (M&E) Engineering (Pvt.) Ltd.

India has been supporting projects for rehabilitation, resettlement and well-being of displaced persons in the Northern Province in the areas of shelter (through donation of roofing sheets and cement bags and construction and repair of houses under the Indian Housing Project for 50,000 houses), healthcare (providing emergency medical relief, organising artificial limbs refitment camps and equipping hospitals), livelihood generation (provision of fishing equipment, tractors, agricultural equipment and seeds), education (repairs of schools and setting up of vocational training centres) and infrastructure development (restoration of northern railway lines, rehabilitation of Palaly Airport and KKS harbour).