Development drive in 4,000 villages

Gama Neguma partners with Samurdhi Movement:

Shirley WIJESINGHE

COLOMBO: More than 4,000 villages islandwide have been identified for accelerated development under the Government's Gama Neguma programme for this year, Samurdhi and Poverty Alleviation Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi said yesterday.

Briefing the media on her Ministry's plans for 2007, Wanniarachchi said development projects under Gama Neguma will be implemented in partnership with the Samurdhi Movement at village level.

Gama Neguma, one of the main concepts of the Mahinda Chinthana, is coordinated by the Rural Livelihood Development Ministry.

Two villages will be assigned to one Provincial Council member and the allocation for a village is Rs.100,000.

The Ministry will grant Rs.50,000 for each Samurdhi Society to facilitate projects which could specially target the development of the rural economy. The participation of the community of each village in this regard will be highly appreciated, Minister Wanniarachchi stressed.

The Minister also appealed to trade union leaders of the Samurdhi Movement to think about the present situation and desist from trade union activities which are likely to be conducted in the near future.

The Gama Neguma programme was launched last year from Jayaminigama village in Siyambalanduwa. The project will eventually target nearly 40,000 backward villages throughout the country.

The Government has allocated Rs.46 billion to implement the Gama Neguma project, with President Mahinda Rajapaksa expressing his desire to develop all areas equitably.

A number of villages in villages in Anuradhapura, Matale, Hambantota, Kegalle and Ratnapura districts have already been covered by the programme.

All Gama Neguma development projects will be implemented with the full participation of the village community and are entirely based on their priorities.

The prime objective of this project is to cater to all the requirements and facilities within each village. Infrastructure and other essential facilities will be developed under the Gama Neguma programme.