Lands for most eligible under Walawe Left Bank project

Uditha KUMARASINGHE

COLOMBO: The Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority (SLMA) yesterday assured that it will provide lands to those who are most eligible to obtain lands under the Walawe Left Bank Irrigation Upgrading and Extension Project.

Nearly 26,000 applications had been called to obtain lands under this project. In addition, 6,500 appeals had also been submitted.

However, the Mahaweli Authority has the capacity to provide 600 blocks of 600 selected farmers, SLMA Director General Ivan de Silva told the Daily News yesterday.

According to Silva, the SLMA through a proper selection procedure has selected the 600 most qualified farmers to hand out these 600 land blocks from the Hambantota district.

The SLMA has already published the list of the selected farmers. Each farmer who acquires these lands should obtain a Grama Niladari certificate which has been approved by the Divisional Secretary of that respective area.

However, in order to overcome the land problems of farmers who come under the Walawe Left Bank project, arrangements have been made to provide a quarter acre land to 3,100 non farmer families to construct houses.

In addition, the authority is exploring the possibility of giving a half acre land to nearly 300 selected youth to commence cultivation using high tech methods, he said.

Under the second phase of the Walawe Left Bank project, 5,100 hectares of the land area will be cultivated. Arrangements have been made to resettle 5,369 families. Of this amount, the SLMA has already resettled 2,700 families.

The Walawe Left Bank project comes under the purview of Hambantota, Moneragala and Ratnapura districts.