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by S.M. Jiffrey Adbeen - Kandy South Group Correspondent

The peoples share of the peace process is the development of the undeveloped areas and providing facilities such as the construction of roads, houses and electricity etc. The Kuwait Aid programme has funded a sum of Rs 1,800 million towards this, said the Minister of Central Region Development Tissa Attanayake.

He said so when he opened a rural electrification scheme in the village of Imbulgolla in the Laggala electorate completed at a cost of Rs. 300,000 from the Kuwait Aid Programme. Laggala is one of the most backward villages in the Matale District. The people of IMbulgolla had to depend on kerosene lamps in the absence of electricity.

Minister Attanayake said that when the present government assumed power, one of their major problems was peace in a war torn country. the war was draining away the resources of the country.

The present peaceful atmosphere in the country with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, has resuscitated the economy which was in shambles.

The economy has been given a new lease of life.

Attanayake added that the tourism trade which experienced a downward trend for the past ten years showed remarkable improvement with an influx of tourists at present. Some of the hotels are fully booked towards the tail end of the year.

Plans are also afoot to identify new places of accommodation to accommodate more tourists. Plantation bungalows and country Manors which are not used at present have been identified as potential tourist attractions and they will be renovated for tourist accommodation. This will be a new concept.

The Minister also said that paddy production in the country has yielded record harvests. All this is possible because of the peaceful atmosphere. We must give out our best to consolidate this position as the dividends will go to the people. The government has allocated a sum of Rs. 1,800 million under the theme "Your Share of the Peace" to carry out development work where this is needed.

Apart from this the government has also allocated large sums of money for other development work.

The government is spending around Rs. 33 million per day on development work. The expenditure for development for a month is about Rs. 1000 million.

Therefore to obtain the optimum benefits, not only the general public, but public officials should also work with more dedication.

He said in conclusion that the rural electrification scheme which was inaugurated on that day would benefit 500 households.

This will help improve their earnings as they could indulge in various self-employment projects. This will also enable the opening of small and medium industries and this will generate Jobs thus helping the economy grow.

Matale District MP Sanjeewa Kaviratne, Central Province Provincial Council member Rohana Bandaranayake, Chairman, Ambangamuwa Korale Pradeshiya Sabha and several government officials were present.

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