Northern fallow lands to be cultivated

Ridma Dissanayake

Over 6,600 hectares of lands which were affected by three decades of war have been cleared and all measures are in place to cultivate these fallow lands by the end of 2013, Economic Development Ministry sources said.

In addition to that, the Army had cleared security boundaries covering 245 kilometers in the Northern province with the help of the task force established by the Economic Development Ministry under the Uthuru Wasanthaya programme.

All short term development and reconstruction projects launched in the Northern province by this task force are already complete while middle term development projects are continuing and are expected to be completed by end of next year, sources added.

The ministry had spent Rs.1,170 million on the Cash for Work programme where around 28,500 families have became beneficiaries of it. A large number of residents in the Northern and Eastern provinces have re-commence their livelihoods boosting the living standards in both provinces.

In addition to the Cash for Work programme, the Economic Development Ministry has launched a cash granting programme spending over Rs.858 million. Around 34,350 families received benefits through this programme.

The Economic Development Ministry had funded the purchase of 400,000 cement bags and one million GI sheets to built temporary houses for the war affected families and over 79,300 families received shelter under this programme. In addition to that they have donated 500 tractors to the Northern Co- operative Associations as well.

The 50,000 houses construction programme launched by the ministry in 2006 had been completed last year.

The Indian government also funded its own housing programme to build 49,000 houses of which 43,000 have already been completed. Other Non Governmental Organizations including UN-HABITAT have also funded certain development projects.

The Economic Development Ministry had allocated around Rs.33.9 billion to build 605 large buildings in the Northern province, 315 of which have been already completed. The ministry is also funding a large number of other development projects under the Uthuru Wasanthaya and Nagenahira Nawodaya programmes which are to be completed by the end of 2013.