Kalpitiya Master Plan approved

Cabinet has approved the preparation of a Master Plan to develop the Kalpitiya peninsula in the Puttalam district as a Special tourist project on the instructions of Milinda Moragoda, Minister of Tourism.

The Kalpitiya peninsula is a unique destination by itself with a cluster of 14 islands of varied sizes. Five of these islands are inhabited while only the seasonal fishing community frequents the rest.

The Kalpitiya Integrated Resort Project was initiated as far back as 2003 when action was initiated to prepare a Master Plan for Kalpitiya. However action on the project got delayed due to a scarcity of initial funding required in developing the basic infrastructure prior to other construction. To address this issue and to accelerate the project, the Minister of Tourism obtained Cabinet approval.

The Ministry of Tourism had already appointed a project Steering Committee and together with this a project office was set up. The project Steering Committee represents all the stakeholder agencies including North Western Province Land Commissioner, Chairman Central Environmental Authority, Coast Conservation Department, Fisheries Department, Road Development Authority, and Urban Development Authority etc.

To cover various aspects of the project intensively in terms of immediate action required several sub committees were set up in the area of infrastructure development, land acquisition, investment, community awareness creation, legal and Environment.

The project office will be headed by a Project Director and the rest of the staff will be Project Manager, Consultant and Architect, Engineer and support staff.

The project office is in the process of reviewing the existing plans for Kalpitiya with a view to formulate a distinctive concept for the Kalpitiya Resort like in Bali in Indonesia.

The development envisaged will be strictly environmental friendly and ecologically sound and catering to the up market tourists.