Development reaches village:

Next Deyata Kirula in Eastern Province

Nimal Wijesinghe, Anuradhapura Additional District Group Corr

“President Mahinda Rajapaksa is determined to assure that dividends of development projects are directed without discrimination throughout the country.

Under this concept, the President decided to hold the 7th Deyata Kirula National Exhibition and the overall development programme in the Eastern province, expanding the process to Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Polonnaruwa districts,” said Minister of Telecommuncation and Information Technology and Deyata Kirula Steering Committee chairman Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, speaking to the Daily News at the Oyamaduwa Exhibition site.

He said that by the end of February 7, since the opening of the exhibition on the 4th evening by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, around 800,000 people had visited the exhibition site.

“The government has spent a colossal sum of Rs 21,000 million for upgrading the infrastructure facilities in the Anuradhapura district, bringing prosperity and fortune to its people, who acted as a reinforced protective fence against LTTE terrorists, facing untold hardships and committing limitless sacrifices.”

The Deyata Kirula Exhibition was not a carnival. It was a felicitating opportunity offered to the people to enjoy and celebrate the memorable and miraculous development achieved in the Anuradhapura district,” the Minister said.

Siyambalapitiya said that at the site of the exhibition, it had been a sensational incident to watch the people respecting and adoring the president wholeheartedly, treating him as one of their kith and kin while he was touring the site.

“People had been attached to the President and his personality. I felt that at the exhibition site, he was the most valuable and precious exhibit, as the vast crowds thronged to get a glimpse of the President,” the minister said.

He said that while the 7th Deyata Kirula programme would cover Polonnaruwa, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Ampara, simultaneously. The 65th National Independence Day celebrations would be held in Trincomalee, the minister said.