Boost for economic development :

State land for investors

Ridma DISSANAYAKE

The Land and Land Development Ministry will lease around 2,054 acres of state land to both local and foreign investors to implement projects which have been approved by the Cabinet and the Investment Board, said Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon.

Investors will launch special hydropower, windpower, agriculture, tourism and saltern projects. The lands will be leased for periods, such as, 30, 50 and 99 years. Most investors are local persons, the minister said.

These lands are situated in Colombo, Matale, Trincomalee, Moneragala,Puttalam, Nuwara Eliya and Kegalle districts, he said.

Leasing will come under three main categories, such as, Act on Land Development, Act on State Lands and Land Grant Special Provision act, minister Tennakoon said. The lands include several prime blocks in Colombo which are to be given for tourism related projects and 239 acres in the Puttalam district for a windpower project and an agricultural project.

Others are to be leased for tourism related projects. Around 1,804 acres will be leased to a local investor for a saltern project, he said.