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| Thursday, 18 November 2004 |
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| UNP controlled MC responsible for any pollution to Kurunegala tank - Deputy Minister Bimal Ratnayake by Uditha Kumarasinghe Agriculture, Lands and Irrigation Deputy Minister Bimal Ratnayake yesterday totally denied allegations made by the UNP that the water in Kurunegala tank has been polluted under the reconstruction work launched by the UPFA Government to renovate the tank. There is no truth in their statement that contaminated water had seeped into the Tank. A study conducted by the National Water Resources and Drainage Board and the Institute of Fundamental Studies, Hantana have confirmed that no pollution has been caused to the water of the tank, he told a media briefing at his Ministry yesterday. The Deputy Minister said the former UNF Government has commenced the construction work of this tank by the end of year 2002 and had planned to complete the renovation activities by March 31, 2004. According to Ratnayake the former Irrigation and Water Resources Management Ministry of the then UNF Government had spent a sum of Rs. 46 million for the renovation activities of the tank. Of this total expenditure, Rs. 43.8 million has been spent to desilt the tank. This money has been mainly paid to private contractors to remove 388,540 soil cubes from the tank. However, there is no records of payments made to 89,540 soil cubes. In addition, Rs. 2 million has been mentioned as administrative and supervision chargers of the tank. The present UPFA Government has only spent Rs. 1.5 million to complete the renovation work of the tank. This money has been utilised to renovate the anicut, clear the surroundings and strengthen the bund of the tank. All these renovation activities have been done by Irrigation Department officials without giving any contracts as was done by the former Government, he said. However, the water capacity of the tank has now been doubled due to steps taken by the UPFA Government to renovate the tank. In addition, a systematic programme has been formulated to minimise the water pollution of the tank, the Deputy Minister said. He said: "Through these false allegations, the UNP is attempting to discredit the Government in the eyes of the public at a time it has successfully launched the Dahasak Maha Wev project which has targeted the renovation of 1,000 tanks before the end of this year. However the Kurunegala tank is not included to the Dahasak Maha Wev project." The entire supervision of the Kurunegala tank comes under the purview of the UNP controlled Kurunegala Municipal Council. Therefore the MC has the entire powers to prevent the pollution of the tank. However, the MC has not done anything to renovate or preserve the tank. The Mayor has even given permission for unauthorised constructions near the tank. " I will challenge the Mayor to prove if the MC has undertaken even a single task to minimise the water pollution of the tank," he said. |
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