Boost for agri drive

The suggestion made by Urban Development Minister Dinesh Gunawardena for the renovation of all abandoned the irrigation tanks in the country so that present food crisis could be overcome it is hoped would provide food for thought to the authorities particularly at a time the Government has embarked on an ambitious food production drive.

Speaking at a ceremony to declare open a new Water Supply Scheme the Minister said there were some 30,000 tanks in the country which are in a derelict state and if these could be renovated and put into proper use the food crisis could be resolved to a great degree.

What was meant by the Minister is that the renovation of such a large number of tanks would boost agriculture production and help the country on the road to self sufficiency in food.

This idea of Minister Gunawardena whose father the legendary Philip Gunawardena was a former Agricultural Minister who brought in revolutionary changes in the Agricultural sphere in worth mulling over if the Government is to achieve the desired results in its programme to bring large areas under cultivation.

Travelling into the hinterland one finds vast tracts of abandoned irrigation networks which are gradually being reclaimed by the forest. If these tanks are rehabilitated and put to proper use it would no doubt provide a big boon to the rural farmer and boost agricultural production.

No doubt the Minister would have been harking back to the country’s hydraulic civilisation when we were self sufficient in food. Not for nothing were we once called the Granary of the East in an era where the country was brimming with prosperity.

The Minister’s concern could be understood since at the rate of present day urbanisation these tanks could very soon be overrun in the near future in the name of progress and development leaving us with no arable land.

The Government also should strive to enthuse our people to take to agricultural pursuits. Even in the industrialised West the farmer community occupies an exalted place in society while in countries like Japan agriculture is given pride of place.

We too should follow this trend if we are to meet the looming threat of a food crisis.

Today most of our people consider it infra dig to take to farming. Even the progeny of the farmers themselves are migrating to cities posing a threat to the very survival of our agricultural base. This trend should be arrested if the Government’s food drive is to be sustained.

What is needed is a change in attitude and outlook so we would not consider below par to work our soil and produce our own food requirements. This is the only way we could aspire to be self sufficient in food. We should not forget that the country’s proud heritage was based on our agricultural civilisation from the times of our forefathers.

Bridge to the East

Yesterday’s opening of the Arugam Bay bridge by President Mahinda Rajapaksa marks yet another symbolic act of bridge building between the communities and could mark a cornerstone in the “Eastern Resurgence’ project, now in its initial stages. It is set to gather momentum with the Election of a Provincial Administration in the East.

The bridge built at cost of US$ 10 million is a replacement for the original bridge that was destroyed by the tsunami and links Pottuvil, Panama and Arugam Bay in the East.

The bridge would facilitate the free movement of people and would be a boon for commercial activity in the province.

No doubt it will be the wish of the Eastern population that more tangible benefits would come their way in the form of schemes and programmes that would uplift their lives transforming the miserable existence they were forced to undergo in the not too distant past.

The US Government should be thanked for its generosity of funding the project and hopefully more such aid would be forthcoming in a steady stream for rebuilding the East to bring it on par with the rest of the country.

The Government on its part should speed up the projects that have already been earmarked for the Province as a matter of urgency, for any delay could only result in the resurfacing of the frustrations of the Eastern population.

There is a vast field of activity that covers the redevelopment of the East including education, infrastructure, housing etc.

We hope this new bridge will open the gateway for an acceleration of development plans that have been earmarked for the East.