Rural development drive begins

Uditha Kumarasinghe

COLOMBO: The Government will launch a flagship development project on Monday (October 30) titled "Pro-poor Economic Advancement and Community Empowerment (PEACE)" to uplift the socio-economic conditions of the farmer community.

The project will cover four major districts, Anuradhapura, Kurunegala, Puttalam and a part of the Kandy district encompassing a total land area of 6,500 square kilometres, Agriculture, Irrigation and Mahaweli Development Minister Maitripala Sirisena told the Daily News.

The total estimated cost of the project is Rs.6.78 billion. The Japanese Bank for International Cooperation is funding the project. In addition, the Government has agreed to contribute 25 per cent of the total cost of the project.

According to the Minister. the project will be implemented in 1,385 Grama Niladari divisions coming under the purview of these four districts benefitting to 36,626 farmer families.

Minister Sirisena will ceremonially launch PEACE at Anuradhapura on Monday. PEACE will assist farmers to uplift their socio-economic conditions and enhance income generation avenues. In addition, the project will encourage both farmers and public on proper water management systems, he said.

The project includes rehabilitation of eight major tanks, 12 medium scale tanks and 80 minor tanks in the four districts. The total land area coming under these tank areas amounts to 24,795 hectares, the Minister said.

The project will also assist farmers to cultivate high value crops which will enable them to increase income.

Another target is to improve the facilities for home garden cultivation, vegetable cultivation, livestock development, inland fishing, small scale enterprise, micro finance, vocational training, marketing and rural credit.