Rambaken oya irrigation project:

Taking development to the village

Priyanka Kurugala in Maha oya

The Rambaken oya irrigation project will uplift the standard of life of the people in Ampara-Mahaoya area.

The Irrigation and Water Management Ministry has targeted to develop the area giving a boost to agriculture and other sectors under this project, said Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva.

Addressing the media during a tour of Rambaken oya irrigation project site on Thursday, the Minister said after all construction programmes of the Rambaken oya project are completed, resettlement will commence.

Construction of the Rambaken oya reservoir will be completed by the end of this year, the minister said.

The full estimated cost of the project is Rs 2,500 million. Out of the total cost Rs 2,200 million will be spent at the end of this year. Rs 500 million will be spent to develop infrastructure facilities. Around 2,500 farming families will be provided benefits under this irrigation project. In addition to this, around 1,500 families would be provided assistance to grow subsidiary crops and implement other industries, de Silva said.

"Around 75 percent of the population in this area do not have toilet facilities. Nevertheless people spend money to buy liquor. It is unfortunate that people do not care for basic needs like toilets.

Therefore, there is need to launch a programme to improve their living standards," he said. The minister said each family will be provided with one and half acres of paddy land.

"Almost 75 percent of this project has been completed.

"This reservoir has been made by building a dam across Mundeni Aru. The catchment area of the reservoir is 130 square kilometres.

The capacity of this reservoir is 56 million cubic metres.

This project is part of the Mahaweli development project," Minister de Silva said.

Senior Minister P Dayaratne said that as Ampara is the area which provides the largest rice production to the country, projects such as the Rambaken oya is important to this area.

Ampara District Parliamentarian Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera also participated.