Development projects worth Rs. 5 b to kick off today

Friday, 21 June 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Two school buildings, a secretariat office, a police station, a building for a temple, and a tourist bungalow to be opened
Rs. 4 billion in road development projects to be launched

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Internal and Home Affairs and Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Vajira Abeywardena will declare open a host of development projects in the Galle district today.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

Home Affairs and Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Vajira Abeywardena

Addressing a press briefing held at the Department of Government Information, Abeywardena stated that, to kick off the series of events, a new building worth Rs. 30 million for the Thawalama Vidyaraja National School in the Hiniduma electoral division will be declared open at 2 p.m. today, following which the Opatha Police Station, worth Rs. 30 million, will be declared open at 2.30 p.m.

“Later, we will be opening the Thawalama Divisional Secretariat Office, which has been refurbished into a three-storey building worth approximately Rs. 60 million. Furthermore, a tourist bungalow worth Rs. 4.6 million will be declared open,” the Minister said.

Abeywardena further noted that the Thawalama Sashanarodha Purana Rajamaha Viharaya, which was constructed through the use of Rs. 5.7 million from funds allocated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), will be handed over to the Maha Sangha by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today.

Elaborating further, Abeywardena stated that a new building worth Rs. 35 million constructed for the Hiniduma Mallika Vidyalaya will be declared open today as well.

“In addition to this, we have also taken steps to ensure that 1,881 families in Neluwa and Thawalama will be granted Samurdhi benefits during the day’s proceedings,” the Minister explained.

In addition, a road development project worth Rs. 4 billion, stretching up to 51 km in the areas covering Neluwa, Thawalama, Naagoda, Baddegama, and Labuduwa in the Galle District, will also be launched within the day, which the Minister said was a long-awaited development for these areas in Galle. The funds for this project were also granted by the ADB.

“This road is set to run from Karapitiya junction to Thalagaha junction, and then towards Wanduramba and then to Hiniduma, and also from Baddegama to Wanduramba. The project is set to be completed within four months of construction. It is after 50 years that the 12 km road from Baddegama to Nagoda is being re-furbished from funds gifted by the ADB, which is worth Rs. 480 million,” the Minister elaborated.

Abeywardena said that the Government had undertaken numerous development projects since 2015, and has invested more than Rs. 300 billion in developmental projects in the Galle district so far.