Sabaragamuwa Province gets Rs. 7.43 b for development

Tuesday, 5 August 2014 00:52 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Economic Development Ministry has allocated Rs. 7,435 million for developing the Sabaragamuwa Province, Ratnapura and Kegalle Districts under the House-to-House, Village-to-Village National Economic Development Plan. The Sabaragamuwa program will cover 1,148 Grama Seva Divisions in 28 Divisional Secretariat areas of the 17 electorates of the districts. The beneficiaries will be 1,919,478 persons of 490,066 families of the Ratnapura and Kegalle Districts. According to Ratnapura Government Agent Sunil Kannangara and Kegalle Government Agent Thusitha Wanigasekara, 3,538 villages will benefit from this programme which is being launched under the direction of Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa on President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s advice.

Ministers Athauda Seneviratne, John Seneviratne, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Jagath Balasuriya and Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Chief Minister Mahipala Herath, Deputy Ministers Lalith Dissanayake, H.R. Mithrapala, Premalal Dissanayake, U. G. Padmasiri, Parliamentarians Kanaka Herath, Ranjith Soysa, Janaka Wakkumbura and Sani Kodituwakku and other people’s representatives will be supervising the development program under which Rs. 2,742 million for Sabaragamu Arunalokaya, Rs. 144 million for sanitary and other facilities for rural schools, Rs.1,874 million for Gama Neguma, Rs.25 million for wildlife and nature conservation, Rs.362 million for Divi Neguma livelihood development, Rs. 157 million for agrarian development and Rs. 585 million for local government and provincial councils have been allocated.

Also allocated for these purposes is Rs. 375 million under implementation of proposals by people’s representatives and Rs. 104 million under the Decentralised Budget. In addition 48 rural bridges in the Sabaragamuwa Province have already been completed under the island-wide program to build 210 rural bridges under the Economic Development Ministry’s direction. Work on an additional number of bridges in the Sabaragamuwa Province is scheduled to begin in the district under the program to build 1,000 bridges before 2014, as proposed under this year’s Budget.