National plan to set up industrial villages islandwide
Stanley Seneviratne, Kurunegala North group corr.
KURUNEGALA: One thousand industrial villages will be set up
throughout the island under a national plan.
In the first phase 200 industrial villages will be rehabilitated and
Rs. 60 million has been allocated from the 2007 budget, said S. B.
Navinna, Minister of Rural Industries and Self-Employment Development.
He was addressing a meeting after he opened the Kurunegala district
productivity villages at Sri Sumangala Auditorium, Wariyapola recently.
He said steps have been taken to establish another 100 industrial
villages in Kurunegala district and under this programme the renovation
and construction work of five such villages have been successfully
completed. Under the 1,000 industrial village productivity programme,
Imiyangoda, Mahakeliya, Hemmathagama, Walpola and Mahahawa villages have
been identified to set up productivity industrial villages in Kurunegala
area, the Minister said.
Navinna said that the government has already spent Rs. eight million
to construct the five industrial villages, and the aim of the project is
to produce industrial equipment to cater to export market and to support
Sri Lankan rural industrialists to better their living standards.
The Ministry has also taken steps to promote financial aid to support
all small and medium scale industrialists.
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